LIVERPOOL drivers parking illegally will be sent tickets through the post if caught on CCTV – even if a warden has not ticketed their car.

A package of measures being introduced in the city from April involve a major departure from current parking enforcement rules which stipulate that tickets must be issued on the spot.

Instead, Liverpool City Council plans to start using camera evidence to issue tickets through the post in the next few months, with the highest cost of a parking ticket rising by £10 to £70.

It forms part of plans, already revealed in the Daily Post, to introduce cameras on bus lanes to catch motorists who transgress into the restricted lanes.

Last night, motoring group The AA said it was concerned the new system of allowing camera evidence could lead to “ghost tickets” being issued.

The Labour opposition group also warned the measure could drive shoppers and visitors away from the town centre to places like the Trafford Centre and Cheshire Oaks.

The council insisted that only those breaking the rules had anything to worry about and a new system of charging was fairer.

From April, the current structure of £60 fines for all infringements will change.

More serious offences like parking on double yellow lines and overstaying meters in residential areas and around football grounds will carry a £70 fine.

Less serious offences such as overstaying on a meter in non residential areas will cost £50.

All charges are halved if paid with 14 days.

Motorists who persistently evade paying penalty charges – those who have three or more unpaid tickets – now run the risk of having their cars seized.

Tickets will also be able to be issued for parking alongside “dropped kerbs” or for “double” parking – being half a metre out from the kerb.

Regeneration leader Cllr Mike Storey said: “When the Government announced these changes, they said they did not want councils to see parking enforcement as a way of raising revenue or set targets for the number of tickets issued.

“In Liverpool, we have never done that – the number of tickets we issue has been dropping, along with a decrease in revenue. We have always seen parking enforcement as a way of ensuring smooth traffic flow rather than a council cash cow.”

In the financial year 2005/6 around 88,000 tickets were issued, raising £2.2m, dropping to 72,000 tickets and income of £1.9m last year. The council is forecasting that tickets will bring in £1.8m this year.

Cllr Storey said: “The new system will be fairer – the motorist who gets back to his or her car on a meter a few minutes late shouldn’t have to pay the same amount as the one who parks on double yellow lines, causing congestion and blocking ambulances and fire engines.

“Nobody likes paying parking tickets but there is a simple way of avoiding them – don’t park on double yellow lines or overstay on meters and you won’t get a ticket.”

Edmund King, president of the AA, said great care needed to be taken with using CCTV to issue tickets because a moment in time could show a car on yellow lines, but that was just dropping someone off or unloading.

“We are concerned that there could be bogus tickets sent out.”

He said the same problem applied if a parking attendant was 150 yards away but managed to get the number plate of the car.

“These are civil offences, not criminal offences. We need to keep it in context. Do we really need to go to these extremes to regulate parking?”

He said the use of differential penalties was a good idea as was changes to when wheel-clamping should be used.

Labour leader Joe Anderson said: “I think we need to be care-ful of Big Brother tactics. There are genuine reasons why someone might stop in a certain area.

“If we are going to use CCTV, people will see it as a licence to print money.”

OPINION: PAGE 10

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