Some councils throughout the country have been receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds from parking tickets, even though the traffic and parking restrictions they have been enforcing are illegal.

Councils have been fining motorists, despite the road markings being incorrect and also on parking bays which are too small.

Alan Stanton, a Labour councillor in Haringey, North London, has described one authority's activities as "highway robbery".

The councilor said that his borough had taken £120,000 in parking fines over two yellow box junctions in Tottenham, even though they were unlawful.

Since Haringey council has found out that the boxes are illegal, they have now given motorists the opportunity to appeal.

Barrister Oliver Mischon believes that the councils' actions are illegal. He said: "It's definitely a massive problem, definitely on a national scale, and we're talking about councils making tens of millions of pounds.

"From a legal point of view, the term is unjust enrichment. And if the council unjustly enriches itself, it's got to pay the money back."

Sheffield City Council has also earned 3250,000 from an entrance to a bus and tram lane which was incorrectly marked.

But despite the Department of Transport saying that councils should "seriously consider" repaying the illegal fines, councils are arguing that it may not be in the public interest to give the motorists their money back.

Nick Lester of London Councils, which represents authorities in London, said: "Where there's only a technical error, a small issue, where no-one was genuinely misled, the council can take the view, is it really a good use of public money to repay the penalty?"

But Caroline Sheppard, Chief Parking Adjudicator for the National Parking Adjudication Service for England and Wales, urged motorists to appeal if they believe that they have been wrongly given a parking ticket.

And solicitor Jeanette Miller, one of the UK's leading experts on motoring law and author of Lawpack's Fight a Motoring Ticket Kit, says that your chances of getting your money back are good, should you appeal against a parking ticket.

She said: "Only 1% of people can be bothered with appealing over their ticket, but if you do, you have 60% chance of success.

"There are numerous ways you can appeal your ticket. Say, if the council hasn't followed the right procedures or the signage and markings are unclear, or not present. If you do your homework right, then you can pick the council up on anything they've done wrong and they shouldn't have a leg to stand on."

Get expert advice on how to appeal against your parking ticket by reading Jeneatte's article: "10 Tips on How to Fight a Parking Ticket".

Further information
How speeding celebs use legal loopholes to escape ban
Can I get off my speeding ticket? Speeding loophole myths explained
Get more tips on how to fight your parking ticket or speeding fine with Lawpack's Fight a Motoring Ticket Kit