Council ignores £20,000 of fines

Sheffield Council has had to cancel 278 parking fines within the last six months, potentially worth up to £70 each, after failing to reply to motorists’ appeals within 56 days.

Opposition Liberal Democrat councillors say this could equate to up to £19,460 being lost.

Lib Dem member Ian Auckland said the gaffe had “let the people of Sheffield down and left them out of pocket.”

He added: “How can you trust a council to run your bin and bus service, if they can’t even reply to a letter within 56 days?”

However, Coun Leigh Bramall, Labour’s cabinet member for environment and transport, said the delay was down to both a “new process for dealing with penalty charges” and an “unusually high number of appeals.”

He added: “ We have dealt with the delays these issues caused as quickly as possible and we now meet all statutory targets for dealing with appeals.”

He also said that the amount lost would have been nearer £13,000, as 70 per cent of fines are paid within two weeks, at a discount.