MORE than 50,000 parking tickets were handed out in Oxfordshire last year - costing motorists an estimated £1.25m.

The 50,517 parking tickets for on-street parking violations handed out in 2005/06 was an increase of 1,983 on the previous year.

It means that every day in Oxfordshire, an average of 138 penalty charge notices were given out by Control Plus on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council.

About £3,000 in fines will be collected each day in Oxfordshire.

The figures were released by the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) and shows the increase in Oxfordshire was against the national trend, which has seen most councils cutting back on parking fines.

The parking manager with Oxfordshire County Council, Helen Crozier, said: "The main reason for the increase is because of the new Controlled Parking Zones that have come into force during the year."

Three-quarters of drivers pay up £20 within 14 days, but the rest have to hand over the full charge of £40 for delaying payment.

This means that every day, motorists in Oxfordshire are paying about £3,460 in parking fines.

David Robertson, cabinet member for transport, said: "The money from parking tickets and meters is very much ring-fenced.

"It is not a cash cow as many people think. Obviously most of the money is put back into enforcement. Any surplus has been spent on Thornhill park-and-ride, which is having a £2m refurbishment."

Fewer than 0.2 per cent of people challenge their parking tickets in Oxfordshire, but the result is likely to be favourable if they do.

Of the 89 people complaining about their tickets last year, the majority won their case. In a third of claims, the council did not even bother to contest the complaint.

Charlotte Read, of NPAS, said: "In Oxfordshire, the number of parking tickets issued has gone up, but the number of appeals has gone down, so fewer people are contesting their penalty charge notices.

"This may mean the council is dealing with regulation more efficiently."

The easiest way to get a yellow notice on your car windscreen is parking on a double- or single-lined street - almost half of all penalties were given out for ignoring on-street parking restrictions.

Only a few per cent of tickets issued were for driving in a bus lane, blocking a taxi rank, or parking in a disabled drivers' bay.