New statistics have revealed the parts of Norfolk where people have been most likely to get tickets for flouting parking restrictions.

There were 26,135 tickets issued across the county between April last year and the end of March this year - of which 18,726 were paid.

Given the coronavirus pandemic, that was way down on the 45,078 issued the previous year, where 33,984 were paid.

Penalty charge notices are issued by civil enforcement officers to drivers who ignore restrictions, such as by parking on yellow lines, not buying pay and display tickets or staying too long in time-limited spaces.

They range from £25 to £105, depending on the seriousness of the infringement and how quickly they are paid.

While drivers can challenge them - which led to more than 3,000 being cancelled - some are written off if the driver is not traceable or an error was made.

Eastern Daily Press: Norwich was where the most penalty charge notices were issued.Norwich was where the most penalty charge notices were issued. (Image: Archant)

Norwich was where most were issued - 13,756, of which 9,695 were paid. The previous year, 25,571 were issued, with £18,245 paid.

Great Yarmouth was in second spot, with 5,690 issued and 3,676 paid, with King's Lynn's 3,216 issued and 2,477 paid putting it third.

There were 1,918 issued in North Norfolk, with 1,643 of those paid, while 807 of the 1,070 handed out in Breckland were paid.

In South Norfolk only 214 were issued, but almost all of them (195) were paid.

The money raised is used to pay for the running of Norfolk Parking Partnership - a collaboration between Norfolk's councils.

Norfolk Parking Partnership Joint Committee will discuss the annual report when it meets on Wednesday (September 29).

The partnership's civil parking enforcement account is forecast to make a surplus of just over £60,000, but the separate Norwich City civil parking enforcement account is forecast to make a £627,000 loss.

Eastern Daily Press: Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways and infrastructure at Norfolk County Council.Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways and infrastructure at Norfolk County Council. (Image: Archant)

Martin Wilby, chairman of the committee, said: "We have seen the level of demand for parking increase as the economy has reopened, but it is difficult to predict whether it will return to pre-pandemic levels.

"By identifying potential losses early in the year, we can take steps to minimise the deficit. We will closely monitor this situation over the coming months and report back to the parking partnership committee."