Nearly 800 fines for pavement parking have been issued in the Highland Council area in less than a year.
Councils were given the go-ahead to implement a ban on pavement parking in December 2023.
The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 bans pavement parking, double parking and parking at some dropped kerbs.
The aim is to improve accessibility, particularly for vulnerable road users.
If caught, drivers face fines of £100, which is reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days.
In early 2024, The Highland Council granted a grace period where warning notices were issued for contraventions.
However, the local authority started issuing penalty charge notices from February 2024.
The Press and Journal can now reveal how many fines have been handed out to drivers since then, as well as the top three Highland and island streets hit with the largest number of penalty charges.
How many pavement parking fines have been issued in the Highlands?
Highland traffic wardens have dished out a total of 795 fines for pavement parking since February 2024.
They have issued another 20 for parking adjacent to a dropped kerb at a known crossing point.
Meanwhile, four penalty charge notices have been handed out to drivers whose vehicle was not parked within 50 cm of the carriageway edge.
That makes it a total of 819 for the three above offences.
Out of this, 589 were paid within 14 days, which translates into £29,450 collected by the local authority.
How many fines are still unpaid?
More than 100 fines for pavement parking, double parking and parking at a dropped kerb are still unpaid.
Out of these, 99 are for pavement parking.
This means that the Highland Council is waiting to cash out another £10,200.
Meanwhile, the local authority has already generated a total of £42,250 since the implementation of the Act.
Top 3 Highland streets with more pavement parking fines issued
Bayfield Road in Portree and Uig Car Park in Uig are tied as the second location in the Highlands where more pavement parking fines have been issued.
A total of 40 penalty charge notices have been handed out to drivers at both places.
The top spot goes to Anderson Lane in Wick, with 46 fines dished out in less than a year.
For parking at a dropped kerb, Longman Drive in Inverness, Somerled Square in Portree and Stadium Road in Inverness lead the ranking with two fines each.
Meanwhile, MacArthur Street in Wick is the Highland street with more penalty charges dished out for double parking (two).
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