NEARLY 40 per cent of all parking penalties in Wiltshire are issued in Salisbury.

As Wiltshire Council’s income from penalty charges rockets by 25 per cent, a Freedom of Information request has revealed that 12,075 parking fines were issued in Salisbury out of a total of 30,419 in Wiltshire.

The figures cover the year from October 1, 2012 to September 30 this year and have prompted the chairman of Salisbury Area Board, Cllr Ricky Rogers, to accuse council chiefs of being unfair to the city.

Penalty notices can be imposed for failing to display the right parking ticket, parking on double yellow lines or parking in contravention of other regulations.

Cllr Rogers, who leads the Labour group on Wiltshire Council and represents the Salisbury Bemerton ward, said: “It cannot be right. We are definitely out of synch with the rest of Wiltshire.

“It’s almost a double whammy we are hit with – we have the highest parking charges and now the highest number of parking tickets. “The flexibility has gone out of the system and tickets are issued when you are just five minutes overdue.”

After Salisbury, the next highest number was in Chippenham, where 3,953 penalty notices were issued, followed by Trowbridge with 2,569 penalties. Other figures include:

• Amesbury, 448

• Tidworth, 151

Wilton, 149

• Tisbury, 47

• Mere, 12

• Durrington 2

Larkhill, 1

In total, 30,419 penalty notices were issued, bringing in £854,267 – a 25 per cent increase on the previous 12 months when 24,609 penalties were issued, netting £681,868.

The penalties for 2012-2013 were split between 11,155 imposed for breaches of the rules in car parks and 13,454 for infringements on the public highway.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: All our civil enforcement officers are trained to the same high standard. “They will issue parking notices to any vehicle in contravention of the traffic regulation orders to help keep traffic following freely. If anyone believes they have received a penalty charge notice incorrectly, they can always follow the appeals process.”