MORE than half of challenges against parking fines issued by St Helens Council in the past year have proved successful.

A Freedom of Information Request made to the council revealed that of the 2,897 parking tickets which were challenged between March 1 2014 and February 28 of this year, 1,453 of them resulted in the fine being overturned.

The Star had been contacted numerous times by people issued with tickets who felt that they had been wrongly issued with the fine.

It was also discovered that within the 12 month period St Helens Council issued 7,743 notices, with £162,281 generated by parking fines, although some of this total may relate to fines issues before March 1 2014.

In response to the figures, a council spokesman said: “Parking tickets are issued when parking enforcement officers see a vehicle that is parked illegally - and there is no sign of the owner returning to their vehicle.

“Anyone who feels they have been treated unfairly under our parking enforcement regulations may challenge the penalty notice and, as long as they can provide evidence to support their case, we will always treat such appeals fairly and sympathetically.

“St Helens remains one of the cheapest towns in the North West in which to park. The council has deliberately kept prices down as part of our campaign to attract more shoppers into the town centre and support the local economy.

“As well as free parking on Saturdays we also operate a ‘free after 3pm’ scheme during the week.”