Redbridge Council received more than £5.5m in parking and traffic fines between 2008 and 2013, a report has revealed.

The report, commissioned by privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, reveals that the total revenue generated by local authorities across the UK between to March 2008 and March 2013 is at least £311m.

A huge 90% of that revenue is received by London boroughs with Redbridge in the top 20.

The research highlights that London drivers are being hardest hit by the use of CCTV for traffic and parking fines.

This is despite the government publishing the surveillance camera code of practice which stressed the need to use CCTV for traffic offences “sparingly”.

The report also shows that the number of CCTV cars in use in the UK has exploded by 87% since 2009.

Emma Carr, deputy director of Big Brother Watch, said: “The Government rightly wants to reign in this unjustified surveillance, so councils are turning to desperate arguments about public safety to justify their cameras, despite having absolutely no evidence to back up their claims.

“The use of CCTV and spy cars for parking enforcement should be banned.

“The fact that no councils publish proper statistics about how these cameras are used highlights that many know that their CCTV operation is about raising money, not about public safety.

“The Government should urgently investigate whether or not the use of cameras to snoop on motorists breaches surveillance laws, particularly where a traffic warden sits in a control room looking for motorists to ticket.”

Awaiting comment from Redbridge council.

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