Over 6,200 parking fines issued in Mayo over past two years

A TOTAL of 6,220 parking fines have been issued by Mayo County Council over the last two years across the four municipal districts, writes CLARE MCNAMARA

Details released under the Freedom of Information Act to The Connaught Telegraph show that in the Ballina Municipal District, 1,378 tickets were issued in 2017 and 131 of those were overturned, and in 2016, 1,478 tickets were issued, with 162 overturned.

Reasons for parking tickets been overturned were due to a medical emergency, car breakdown and non-display of a valid disabled parking permit. If a parking fine is not paid with 28 days, it increases by 50%. However, 851 parking fines remain unpaid in the Ballina Municipal District over the past two years.

In the Castlebar Municipal District, 475 motorists were issued with a fixed penalty notice in 2017 and 731 in 2016.

The figures show that 205 of these were upheld on appeal for medical grounds, human error and compassionate grounds.

However, 311 fixed penalty notices remain outstanding for the two years, and in some cases, may be referred for court appearance.

A total of 1,358 fines were issued in the towns of Claremorris and Ballinrobe with 34 tickets been overturned in the Ballinrobe area due to breakdown, unloading and permits.

Also, two complaints of alleged verbal abuse was lodged by a traffic warden in 2017.

The West Mayo Municipal District issued 800 parking fines and overturned 48 of them for reasons relating to disabled badges not fully displayed or fallen off the dash board and foreign registrations - unable to trace the owner.

Again, the fine increases by 50% if it is not paid within 28 days. However, it remains unclear how parking fines remain unpaid in this area.