Parking fines and a penalty charge notice (PCN) can be issued for various reasons including parking in disabled parking bays, not paying for parking charges and breaking road traffic rules, among many other things.

Illegal parking can result in a PCN which will inform you how much you need to pay and within what time frame.

A Freedom of Information Act request submitted to Peterborough City Council revealed that in Peterborough, 10,009 PCNs were issued in 2020 (up to November 30), which saw a revenue of £321,563, nearly 50% less than the year prior, which may have been influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

2019 saw 21,432 PCNs issued with a revenue of £603,183.78, which was the highest since 2015, which saw an annual revenue of £636,073.

In addition in April parking charges were scrapped at council-owned car parks until July 13, which saw a further £579,000 loss for PCC.

A spokesman from Peterborough City Council confirmed that all fines go back into the parking service: "Money from parking fines is used to offset the cost of delivering the parking service. If, at the end of the year, there is a surplus this money is ring fenced and goes towards maintaining and improving highways."

Car parks in Peterborough have also seen overpayments go back into the main parking services budget, though these fees have dropped substantially since the installation of card payments and phone payment apps.

Overpayments for parking fees across their various car parks totalled £5,578.35 between September 2019 and August 2020. Meanwhile, the year prior to that saw overpayments total £10,236.75.

The parking machines at the council-run car parks do not offer change so drivers must have the correct money if paying by cash. When they don't, the excess paid is banked by the machine.