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Cross border parking fines unpaid Cross border drivers' £1.1m bill
(20 minutes later)
Hundreds of thousands of pounds in parking fees is owed by drivers from the Republic of Ireland, the Department of Regional Development has disclosed. Drivers from the Republic of Ireland have chalked up nearly 20,000 unpaid fines in Northern Ireland, says the Department of Regional Development.
The department was responding to a question from DUP MLA Simon Hamilton. About 18,898 fines are unpaid which amounts to an estimated bill of £1.1m.
It said that from October 2006 up to 11 January this year, 18,898 penalty notices issued to vehicles registered in the south remained unpaid. As the value of sterling falls and more people from the Republic come to shop in Northern Ireland, fines have soared.
It is believed that about a third of those have been given out since May of last year. In May, figures revealed that 12,000 people from the Republic of Ireland owed parking fines, now that total is closer to 20,000.
In a statement, a spokesperson from the Roads Service said they were unable to acquire details for "vehicles from the south that have been issued with parking tickets in the north". A spokesperson from the Roads Service said they could not access details for vehicles from the Republic of Ireland.
"Roads Service has been working with the vehicle licensing authorities on both sides of the border to try and resolve this matter," the statement continued. Roads Service has been working with the vehicle licensing authorities on both sides of the border to try and resolve this matter," he said.
The figures were released in response to an assembly question from Simon Hamilton, DUP.