The number of parking fines handed out on the streets of Brighton and Hove has fallen to its lowest level for five years.

Despite increasing numbers of controlled parking areas, 130,000 tickets are expected to be issued by parking attendants by April 2008 compared to the 165,000 predicted earlier this year.

This leaves the council £700,000 down on takings, although more money has been made from pay and display bays and resident permits.

Not since 100,000 tickets were issued in 2002 have so few tickets been dished out.

The city's record haul came in 2004, when almost 170,000 fines were given out, while 150,000 tickets were issued last year.

But the council still expects to make record profits from parking this year, with the total revenue hitting almost £14 million.

Some £5.6 million profit will be raked in during the 12 months up until April 2008 - £750,000 more than last year.

The fall in ticket numbers is being attributed to growing bus use and the new £22 million contract with NCP which targets correctly issued tickets.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The fall in the number of penalty charge notices issued is due to a number of factors including more drivers complying with parking regulations, more people choosing alternatives to the car and taking the bus or cycling instead and a switch from parking vouchers to pay and display in central Brighton which means motorists have found it easier to pay for parking."

One of the biggest boosts to the parking account this year comes from the creation of the new central Brighton parking zone where free and voucher parking bays have been replaced by pay and display machines charging up to £6 for two hours.

NCP, which has been awarded a six-year contract to run on-street parking for the authority, is also charging the council £1 million less a year.

Steve Percy, the chairman of the People's Parking Protest, said the new central Brighton parking scheme had been a success so far.

He said: "With the new central Brighton parking zones there are more spaces per person and that means fewer people are parking illegally.

"We want to make sure that this doesn't change with more parking permits being issued.

"I haven't been receiving as many complaints as we used to have, apart from for untidy parking.

"Maybe people are getting a bit more sensible with their parking and know that they will get a ticket if they park illegally."

Some 50 parking attendants are on duty across Brighton and Hove during the main hours of enforcement.

But the NCP staff are set to walk out on a three-day strike next month after management axed their Christmas party and annual bonuses.

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