WHERE are you most likely to get a parking fine in Dorset? In a three-quarter-of-a-mile stretch of one town.

Three parking fines a day are being handed out in a trio of connecting roads in Dorchester.

Chairman of the Dorchester BID Mike Reed says the county council should take a ‘careful look’ at the situation.

More than 900 fines were clocked up in High West Street, Trinity Street and Princes Street in 2013 – that’s nearly three for every day of the year.

The roads came in at numbers two, three and five in a list of top ten places you are most likely to get a ticket, obtained by the Echo under a Freedom of Information request.

The figures reveal that the county council is making more than £1,200 a day from parking fines across Dorset.

And although Shore Road in Swanage came out at top of the list, with 516 tickets, the combined distance of Trinity Street, High West Street and Princes Street is just 0.1mile longer – yet 429 more tickets were issued.

BID chairman Mr Reed, who owns the Dorchester Hair Studio in Trinity Street, said he is ‘not surprised’ that the patch of roads were high up the list.

He said: “I think there are improvements to be made to the parking experience here.

“It’s got to be a better experience for visitors to the town.”

He said one problem for traders is customers coming back to their cars a few minutes late to find a ticket on their windshield.

“Someone might be in a queue in a shop and when they know their ticket’s going to run out, they are going to leave that shop,” he said.

“If you come in to Dorchester for the day and you get a ticket, that’s going to put you off.”

Mr Reed said the situation should be improved when pay-on-exit parking is introduced to West Dorset District Council-run car parks later this year.

But he would like the county council to look carefully at its on-street parking and to give wardens better training.

In total, £454,104.10 was raised from the number of PCNs issued in 2013 across Dorset.

And more than £446,715.73 has been made from parking fines in the county town since 2008.

We do not know how the figures for Dorchester compare to Weymouth because Weymouth and Portland Borough Council cannot tell the Echo which roads in the borough generated the most income.

But it made £48,121 in fines from off-street parking and £172,708 from on-street parking fines last year.

It says more information will be published in the Annual Parking Report in September.

Simon Gledhill, Dorset County Council’s parking services manager, said: “Penalty charge notices can be issued for many reasons, all of which are covered by national legislation.

“It is difficult to comment on these figures without first understanding the reasons for the tickets and also the number that were cancelled due to the appeals process.

“On-street parking schemes are regularly reviewed to make sure they provide the town with a suitable traffic management solution.”

DORCHESTER'S HOTSPOTS

  •  High West Street, Dorchester = 341 PCNs in 2013
  • Trinity Street, Dorchester = 319 PCNs in 2013
  • Princes Street, Dorchester = 285 PCNs in 2013
  • Total 945

The top reason for each street:

  • High West Street – 161 PCNs issued for ‘Parked after the expiry of paid for time at a pay & display bay’
  • Trinity Street – 92 PCNs issued for ‘Parked without clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket’
  • Princes Street – 112 PCNs issued for ‘Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours’ (parked on double yellow lines)

WHERE YOU ARE LIKELY TO GET A TICKET

1. Shore Road, Swanage

2. High West Street, Dorchester

3. Trinity Street, Dorchester

4. Ferry Road, Studland

5. Princes Street, Dorchester

6. Station Road, Swanage

7. South Street, Bridport

8. High Street, Swanage

9. East Street, Bridport

10. Avon Run, Christchurch