More than 550 parking tickets are issued each week in Sefton, figures have revealed.
The bane of many drivers' existences, many of us have fallen victim to one at some time or other.
According to figures obtained from Sefton Council, fines issued over a three-year period could equate to as much as £6.1m.
That's more than 2,400 fines handed out each month to drivers in the borough.
Parking charge notices in Sefton are either £70 or £50, depending on the seriousness of the offence.
You can get away with only paying half if you pay up within 14 days - so the figure of £6.1m quoted above is likely to be lower.
Responding to a freedom of information request, Sefton Council said it does not hold information on employment numbers, as civil enforcement officers (CEOs) are employed by an external contractor.
The local authority did say, however, it purchases 660 hours a week of CEO services, which equates to around 12 or 13 officers deployed each day on eight hour shifts spread across the whole day.
These officers, the council explained, do not solely carry out parking enforcement, but also activities such as monitoring littering and dog fouling.
In the financial year April 2018-2019, 29,493 parking tickets were doled out.
This rose in the following year to 31,965.
The number fell to 25,628 in the year 2020-21, but given the country was in and out of national lockdowns, this isn't surprising.
When asked, Sefton Council also said CEOs are not set any targets, or given any kind of incentives for issuing parking fines.
The council said all such employees are on a set rate of pay.
If you think you have been given a fine unfairly, you can appeal the ticket. More information can be found on Sefton's website
