MORE than 20,000 parking fines were handed out to drivers in 2023 including over 1,000 on a single road in south Cumbria.

A freedom of information (FOI) request showed Westmorland and Furness Council issued 20,969 penalty charge notices (PCNs) in 2023 as of December.

The number one hotspot for fines was Glebe Road in Bowness with 1,083  notices handed out followed by Great Dockway and Devonshire Street in Penrith with 694 and 445 fines handed out respectively.

Ferry Road on Barrow Island was fourth highest with 419 notices issued and on the A592 at Newby Bridge 338 fines were given out this year.

Mayor of Windermere and Bowness Town Council Leith Hallatsch said: “Parking is a major concern for our local residents. The issue of illegal and inconsiderate parking has a real impact on their ability to go about their daily lives and for the emergency services to respond to incidents. The problem, fundamentally, is a lack of legal parking spaces in our town.

“Tourists drive for hours to get here on a sunny bank holiday and when they find all the car parks full they resort to parking illegally out of sheer frustration. The issuing of tickets does not prevent this from happening again as the next sunny weekend it is a whole different group of tourists who arrive.

“What is needed is a strong vision and leadership by the authorities responsible for tourism and highways such as the Lake District National Park and Westmorland & Furness Council to invest in park and ride facilities, and other ways to limit the number of cars coming to the area to the number of available parking spaces.”

Here is the full list of the top 10 parking fine hotspots in the Westmorland and Furness Council area:

Glebe Road, Bowness 1083 PCNs

Great Dockray, Penrith 694 PCNs

Devonshire Street, Penrith 445 PCNs

Ferry Road, Barrow Island 419 PCNs

A592, Newby Bridge 338 PCNs

Compston Road, Ambleside 329 PCNs

Sandgate, Penrith 318 PCNs

Middlegate, Penrith 297 PCNs

Stricklandgate, Kendal 288 PCNs

Highgate, Kendal 275 PCNs