THE number of parking tickets issued to motorists in Darlington has fallen over the past year, according to a new report.

Darlington Borough Council’s annual parking report states that 14,083 penalty charge notices were issued by the authority between April last year and March this year – 1,500 less than in 2013 to 2014.

The report suggests the reason for the decline is due to improved compliance by motorists.

Between April 2014 and March 2015, 1.1 million pay and display tickets were brought in council-owned car parks – a decline from the previous year.

The drop has been blamed on the closure of the authority’s two busiest car parks - the town hall and Beaumont Street North.

The report also shows that income from the town’s 15 resident parking zones for 2014 to 2015 was £42,769, and that trader permits generated £2,790 for the council during the same period, while parking waivers bought by tradesmen to allow them to park in a restricted area brought in a further £13,010.

This year, a surplus of £1.1m generated from car parking charges was invested back into a range of highways projects, including the resurfacing of car parks, improvements to the cycle route at Sugarhill Park, the Feethams bus and coach facilities upgrades and the Feethams car park construction.

Following requests from business owners on Grange Road, the time motorists can park in the street has been increased from two to three hours, and a three for two hour offer in all council car parks is still in place.

Councillor Nick Wallis, cabinet member for leisure, environment and transport said “At a time when town centres across the country are under pressure from the impact of changing shopping patterns, it is critical that the council does everything it can to ensure car parking in Darlington is a safe experience, and is competitively priced for motorists.”

To view the report visit darlington.gov.uk/carparking