A motorist has racked up more than £36,000 in unpaid parking fines. In what is believed to be a British record, the van driver received 209 penalty charge notices (PCNs) between March 2018 and last August – before council chiefs impounded the vehicle and destroyed it.
The van driver was a ‘persistent evader’ who parked his vehicle illegally on roads in Tower Hamlets in East London, said officials.
Following Freedom of Information requests from the Tory opposition, the Labour-run council presented the amazing case to the public.
Peter Golds, the borough’s Conservative leader, said he was furious that the council allowed the van to rack up fines for over three years before impounding it.

A motorist has racked up more than £36,000 in unpaid parking fines. According to British records, the van driver received 209 penalty notices (PCNs), between March 2018 through August 2018. (stock photo)
He said: ‘The borough has an appalling record of traffic enforcement.’
Council officials revealed that they had managed to track the owner and recover £14,500 in fines – and have now issued warrants to recover the rest of the money. Last night, Tower Hamlets said: ‘This vehicle was a persistent evader.’
In another case – between July 2017 and June 2019 – the owner of a VW Transporter managed to rack up 246 fixed PCNs totalling £32,000 in Tower Hamlets.
The money wasn’t recovered.

The van driver was a ‘persistent evader’ who parked his vehicle illegally on roads in Tower Hamlets (pictured) in East London, said officials