MORE than £100,000 was generated in less than four months across Caerphilly county borough from penalty charges for illegal parking introduced last April.

There were 4,325 penalty charge notices issued between April 8 - the 'go live' date for civil parking enforcement (CPE) - and the end of July.

The introduction of CPE has been ‘broadly successful’, councillors have been told, with the early indications being that the service is on target to generate enough income to fund itself.

Around 70 per cent of the penalty charges have been paid, while the remainder are progressing through an appeals process.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s environment and sustainability scrutiny committee heard that the implementation of CPE is having a positive impact.

The council took over control of CPE in April from Gwent Police, giving it the power to issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) if vehicles are found to be parked unlawfully.

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The cabinet member responsible for sustainability, Cllr Sean Morgan, said: “I am so pleased to see that after six months, the CPE service is already working well here in Caerphilly.

“The update report demonstrates how CPE implementation is having a positive impact on traffic congestion, the efficiency of public transport services, reducing road accidents and protecting vulnerable road users, working towards a safer environment here in the Caerphilly borough.”

The council’s transportation engineering manager Clive Campbell said it was too soon to tell, but early indications are that the service is on target to generate enough income to fund itself.

In the meeting, councillors agreed to reconvene a Task and Finish Group, which looks at the operation and management of highway owned council car parks.

However, councillors agreed that they wanted to extend this to all CPEs.

Councillors also raised questions over the process of changes to parking restrictions for existing Traffic Regulation Orders.

Cllr Stephen Kent said that some residents were having to park in public car parks overnight because there was nowhere to park near their home.

Mr Campbell asked councillors to submit requests to the council for changes to parking restrictions.