More than 1,100 parking fines handed out in Banbridge in six months

More than 1,100 fixed penalty fines were handed out to motorists for on-street and off-street parking contraventions in Banbridge during the first six months of 2017.

The Department for Infrastructure’s figures for January to June reveal that a total of 684 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were handed out for on-street offences, while 484 were given out for contraventions in council-controlled off-street car parks.

In Dromore, there were just 15 parking tickets handed out for on-street offences during the first six months of the year, and none for off-street contraventions.

According to the statistics, there were no on-street fines issued in Gilford during the same period.

In April this year, the Leader revealed how the number of on-street PCNs handed out to motorists in Banbridge rose from 710 in 2015 to 964 last year - an increase of almost 36 per cent - while off-street PCNs were up 19 per cent year-on-year to 783.

With 684 on-street and 484 off-street PCNs issued in the first six months of 2017, the number of parking fines being handed out to local drivers looks set to increase again.

With Banbridge being one of Northern Ireland’s most ticketed towns for on-street offences, the Chamber of Commerce has claimed that the parking situation and threat of fines is putting shoppers off coming into the town.

Across Northern Ireland there were 43,493 on-street penalty charge notices handed out to drivers between January and June this year, and a further 17,486 fines for off-street offences.