�Motorists in Havering were given 47,000 parking tickets last year by traffic wardens.

The figures released from London Councils, show that traffic wardens in the borough issued the third lowest number of parking tickets in London.

Most of the penalty charge notices (PCNs) were served on motorists committing higher level offences including parking on double yellow lines, stopping on a pedestrian crossing or bus stop and double parking.

The remainder of the tickets were issued for lower level PCNs which include overstaying time on a parking meter and not parking within the markings of a parking bay.

Overall in London, traffic wardens in Westminster issued the most parking tickets last year with 492,881 tickets being issued, followed by Newham with 220,000 tickets.

The figures also reveal the number of parking tickets that were appealed last year.

Appeals

In 2011/12, 702 tickets were contested, with 354 appeals allowed and 348 refused by the independent Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) after first approaching the council.

Nick Lester, corporate director of services said: “Local authorities are looking more carefully at representations from motorists at appeals and are winning significantly more of the cases heard by the independent adjudicators at the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service.

“The total number of penalty enforcement notices issued has levelled off during the past three years, but given the amount of traffic in London, it is inevitable that there will continue to be a significant amount of illegal parking. Anyone who feels they should not have received a penalty charge notice, has the right to appeal to the independent Parking and Traffic Appeals Service, which has the final say in every disputed case.”

Cabinet member for streetcare, Cllr Barry Tebbutt, said: “I think people will be surprised we issue so few parking tickets compared to some of our neighbouring boroughs. These figures show we work hard to keep people safe and traffic moving in Havering, whilst issuing as few tickets as necessary.”