TOWN councillor Paul Rounding has called on parking wardens to give motorists a little leeway before handing out tickets in pay and display car parks.
He believes so called “civil enforcement officers” are too keen to fine motorists who are just a few minutes over their time limit - and fears that the situation could put people off visiting the town.
The authority submitted a freedom of information request to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council in a bid to ascertain “the number of car parking fines that have been issued to those contravening parking regulations in the pay and display car parks in Driffield, compared to those issued to people illegally parked in the streets of the town.”
Officers from ERYC confirmed that at the timne of writing there had been 379 on street fines and 332 off street fines.
Coun Rounding said: “Just under 50% of those issued with fines have been parked in a proper car park.
“The disturbing thing about this for me is that these people have come into Driffield, they have gone down town and maybe had a coffee, done a bit of shopping and decided to stop a little bit longer and what do we give them as a receipt - a £25 fine for stopping that bit extra.
“That’s the day ruined for them. It is disappointing.”
He explained: “I find nothing wrong with the 379 people who have been prosecuted down the main street - even though some of the yellow lines are dubious - but the other 332 I feel strongly about.
“Every time you go past a car park you see someone with a ticket.
“I see gents who come into town for a night out and they go home in a taxi and Sunday morning they’ve got a ticket.
“I have seen the injustice of it. If they are in a car park they should have a bit more leeway.
“If we had free parking we would get more people coming into Driffield.”
Deputy mayor Coun Heather Venter said: “The moral of the story is if you have are in a car park, make sure you have put your money in the machine.”