Met Police 'fined £900 a day' for driving offences » Local Government » 24dash.com

Police drivers in London are fined almost £900 every day for offences including parking illegally, speeding and ignoring bus lanes.

The Metropolitan Police paid £325,563 in vehicle fixed penalty notices in the last financial year.

The figure, revealed in new budget documents, was an increase of a third on the previous year when police coughed up £245,377 in fines.

Penalties were imposed because of illegal parking, speeding, driving in bus lanes, red route offences and driving the wrong way up one way streets.

Tickets issued to the drivers of vehicles responding to emergencies or on operations are cancelled by Transport for London and local authorities.

But there are no exemptions for police drivers caught breaking the law in other circumstances.

The Metropolitan Police said senior officers are working with local authorities in the capital to try to reduce "unwarranted" fines.

A spokeswoman said one problem is the number of unmarked hire vehicles used by officers can make it difficult to trace the circumstances of a fine.

It is understood that some fines are paid out of the pockets of the officers and staff concerned, but senior officers deal with penalties on a case-by-case basis.

The Metropolitan Police has a huge fleet of about 5,000 vehicles ranging from small patrol cars to diggers and recovery trucks.

The vast majority are operational vehicles with only a small number of top ranking officers given the use of a company car.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "The number of fines paid on Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) has increased in the last financial year.

"There are factors which may contribute to this, for example the increase in our fleet size.

"In particular, the number of unmarked hire and lease vehicles which would not be recognisable to the council when on covert operations.

"FPNs include offences such as bus lane offences, parking tickets, offences in restricted areas, yellow box junction offences, driving the wrong way up a one-way street and red route offences.

"We are currently working with the local authorities to reduce the level of unwarranted FPNs received for officers on operational duties."

In London, parking fines vary between £60 and £120 depending on the seriousness of the offence and the borough, with a 50% discount for early payment.

Transport for London is responsible for maintaining red routes, the key routes through the capital used by a third of traffic.

All offences on these routes, including parking and bus lane contraventions, incur a £120 fine.

A spokesman for London Councils, which represents the capital's 33 boroughs, said an agreement was in place to exempt all emergency vehicles on operational duties.

But he added that drivers behind the wheel of vehicles in normal circumstances are subject "to the rules of the road like anyone else".

Transport for London said: "Vehicles used on any occasion for police purposes are exempt from the stopping controls on the Transport for London road network (red routes).

"Vehicles being used on police purposes during an emergency are also exempt from bus lane controls.

"It is the policy of Transport for London traffic enforcement to not issue penalty charge notices for parking or bus lane contraventions to marked police vehicles when the vehicle is on operational duty.

"Should a charge notice have been issued, whilst the vehicle was being used for operational duties, the Metropolitan Police Service can ask for the charge notice to be cancelled by filling in a form and having it signed by a person of appropriate rank."

Copyright Press Association 2007.

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