OXFORD has collected the most revenue in parking in the last 18 months, but fines have been issued by all district councils for their car parks.

West Oxfordshire District Council made £52,566.25 in fines from January 2017 until this month in Woolgate in Witney alone. It said it had fined 2,111 people.

The shopping centre car park accounted for more than half of all money raised – which totalled £96,446.43.

Other sites which brought in considerable sums included Marriotts Walk, also in Witney. A total of £27,776.16 was paid after 1,337 people broke parking rules.

Of the 4,081 people fined in West Oxfordshire, just five appeals to tickets were successful.

But the rate was far higher in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council car parks.

Figures showed that one in 10 tickets were withdrawn in Vale car parks, with that rate a touch lower in South Oxfordshire.

Between January 2017 and the end of May 2018, workers handed out 1,951 parking fines on behalf of Vale council. Of those, 212 were rescinded, or 10.8 per cent of them.

In South Oxfordshire council’s car parks, between January 2017 and end of May 2018, South Oxfordshire DC gave out 2,215 parking fines. Of those, 161 – or 7.2 per cent – were retracted.

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council spokesman said: “If we cancel a parking fine this does NOT (the council’s emphasis) mean that it was issued incorrectly. For example, if a valid ticket isn’t on display then our inspectors will issue an excess charge notice. However, if the motorist then produces a valid ticket we will be happy to cancel the fine. Only a very tiny proportion of cancellations are due to human error.

“When someone disputes a parking fine we take the motorist’s explanation into consideration, judging each case in a fair, considerate and consistent manner against our cancellation policy.”

North of the county, Cherwell District Council raised £211,324.40 after it issued 7,457 fines. Of those, 1,386 were given out in Market Place, Banbury and another 868 in Market Square in Bicester. Those two together raised £66,735.