Drivers who parked illegally in three Suffolk towns forked out nearly £200,000 in fines last year, figures have revealed.

A Freedom of Information request (FOI) by this paper showed that East Suffolk Council pocketed £194,049 from 7,442 penalty charge notices issued in Beccles, Bungay and Lowestoft.

Lowestoft was the most ticketed of the three towns with 5,016 penalty notices issued to illegally parked drivers in 2022 - leading to £134,742 in penalty charges.

There were 1,645 penalty notices given to drivers in Beccles in 2022 with £39,916 paid in parking fines.

In Bungay 781 notices were handed to illegally parked drivers, who paid £19,391 in fines.

READ MORE: Price of on-street parking tickets and parking permits to go up

Lowestoft Journal: A PCN issued to a car owner at a car park in BungayA PCN issued to a car owner at a car park in Bungay (Image: Bruno Brown)And a breakdown of the figures has revealed the ten most ticketed streets in Beccles, Bungay and Lowestoft.

In the top ten streets across the towns there were 1,754 penalty notices issued last year.

The most ticketed street out of the three towns was Surrey Street in Lowestoft with 265 penalty charge notices issued.

While Bungay's most ticketed street was St Mary's Street with 184 notices issued.

And Beccles's most ticketed street was New Market with 182 notices issued.

The top 10 ticketed streets were: 

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Lowestoft Journal: The 'Undriveable' Audi that was issued a parking fine at Old Market in Beccles in 2022The 'Undriveable' Audi that was issued a parking fine at Old Market in Beccles in 2022 (Image: Bruno Brown)

Parking fines, formally known as penalty charge notices, are given by civil enforcement officers to drivers who ignore restrictions, such as by parking on yellow lines, not buying pay and display tickets or staying too long in time-limited spaces.

In total East Suffolk Council received £497,729 in 2022 from across the whole district from penalty charges issued for parking offences.

The figures show £194,049 of the £497,729 was received from fines coming from Beccles, Bungay, and Lowestoft alone.

The FOI showed that civil enforcement officers distributed 19,474 PCNs across the district in 2022.

Lowestoft Journal: A nice treat waiting for you when you return to your car...A nice treat waiting for you when you return to your car...