NEW figures have revealed that nearly half of all parking ticket challenges are accepted by the council. 

In the Somerset County Council district, 2,957 challenges were made to parking tickets between January and October 2016.

Of those 2,957 challenges, 1,244 were accepting, equating to 42.07 per cent. 

The figures were obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

A spokesman for Somerset County Council, said: “We enforce parking restrictions to make sure people are parking safely and appropriately in Somerset.

"Our parking officers are experienced and well trained and enforce the parking rules in accordance with the statutory guidelines.

"Sometimes the parking public have justifiable reasons to appeal their parking penalty; most commonly Blue Badge holders who had forgotten to display their badge.

"We encourage people to make a challenge if they feel they have been unfairly penalised. We consider every appeal on its individual merits and make decisions appropriately.”

The council with the highest number of challenges accepted is Basingstoke and Deane, where 95 per cent were accepted. The lowest was Runnymede, Surrey, with just nine per cent of challenges accepted.