The car parks where you are most likely to be hit with a fine in the Harrogate district have been revealed.

New figures show a total of 3,934 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were handed out at the district’s council-owned car parks over a two-year period, with Ripon’s Market Place car park topping the charts.

The hotspot saw 559 poorly-parked motorists hit with PCNs, followed closely by Harrogate’s Montpellier Shoppers car park with 545.

Other popular locations which feature among the top 10 spots for tickets between September 2020 and August 2022 include Harrogate’s Odeon car park and West Park car park.

They are all owned by Harrogate Borough Council, which is responsible for off-street parking, while North Yorkshire County Council looks after on-street spaces.

A borough council spokesperson said:

“The majority of residents and visitors who use our car parks do so correctly and we’d like to thank them for doing so.

“However, some people don’t and as such may receive a Penalty Charge Notice.

“Parking enforcement is carried out to ensure compliance with parking restrictions and provide fairness for all customers.”

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A penalty charge notice is either £50 or £70, depending on the type of offence that has taken place.

If a car has been parked for longer than the time on its pay and display ticket, the charge is £50.

However, it is considered more serious if a car is parked where it shouldn’t be – such as in a loading bay when not loading or in a disabled bay without a blue badge – and the charge is £70.

The figures in full for the two-year period were:

• Market Place car park, Ripon – 559 PCNs
• Montpellier Shoppers car park, Harrogate – 545
• Odeon car park, Harrogate – 401
• West Park car park, Harrogate – 346
• Marshall Way car park, Ripon – 327
• Chapel Street/Fisher Street car park, Knaresborough – 292
• West Park multi storey car park, Harrogate – 258
• Cathedral car park, Ripon – 218
• Station Parade car park, Harrogate – 205
• Park View car park, Harrogate – 162
• Castle Yard car park, Knaresborough – 145
• Conyngham Hall car park, Knaresborough – 113
• York Place car park, Knaresborough – 83
• The Arcade car park, Ripon – 81
• St Marygate car park, Ripon – 58
• Southlands car park, Pateley Bridge – 48
• Victoria Grove car park, Ripon – 27
• Nidderdale Showground car park, Pateley Bridge – 26
• Waterside car park, Knaresborough – 16
• Blossomgate car park, Ripon – 10
• Victoria Grove coach park, Ripon – 6
• Nidd Walk car park, Pateley Bridge – 4
• Jubilee multi storey car park, Harrogate – 3
• Victoria multi storey car park, Harrogate – 1
• Dragon Road car park, Harrogate – 0
• Hornbeam Park car park, Harrogate – 0
• Park Road car park, Pateley Bridge – 0