The amount of money Somerset Council takes from car parking fines has doubled over the last five years.

The council generates income through parking fines – technically known as penalty charges, or PCNs – which are levied against motorists for a range of traffic offences, from overstaying in a pay-and-display car park to parking on double yellow lines.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that the amount of revenue generated by PCNs has doubled from nearly £780,000 in 2020/21 to more than £1.5m in 2025/26.

The council has said that this income is spent on maintaining existing parking services, and officers do not expect this income to increase significantly in the coming years.

PCNs in Somerset are usually £50 for minor contraventions, such as overstaying a time limit or not paying for parking. For more serious issues, such as going through a bus gate or parking on a single or double yellow line, it rises to £70.

In both instances, those who have been fined can see their penalty reduced by 50 per cent if they pay within 14 days.

In the 2020/21 financial year – at the height of the coronavirus pandemic – a total of £28,913 PCNs were issued across the Somerset Council area, generating a total of £777,564.43.

The number of PCNs rose in both 2021/22 (39,268) and 2022/23 (51,236) – netting £982,117.25 and £1,356,069.57 in their respective years.

The number of fines dipped slightly in 2023/24, to 47,081 – raising £1,242,826.48 – but rebounded in 2024/25 to 65,487, generating £1,654,562.38 in penalty revenue.

In the last financial year, the number of PCNs slightly declined to 64,868, but the income generated was still significant, at £1,545,368.30.

In 2025/26, the most common source of fines was The Crescent car park in Taunton town centre, opposite the council’s headquarters – with 1,368 offences being recorded (with a further 214 in relation to on-street parking on The Crescent itself). The majority were penalised for “parking without clear ticket display” or remaining after payment had expired. One hundred tickets were issued for parking petrol or diesel cars in an EV space.

Somerset Council said that any funding raised from parking fines had to be reinvested in parking or associated services – meaning it cannot be used to fund adult social care, children’s social care or any other work carried out by the local authority.

A spokesperson said: “Any surplus from parking penalties and parking charges is used to cover the costs of running parking services and meeting parking-related obligations.

“Once these costs are met, any remaining surplus is generally restricted to purposes such as public transport, road and highway improvements, parking provision, and local environmental improvements, in line with the statutory framework in England.”

The council was unable to confirm whether it was currently spending more on enforcement than in 2021.