The number of parking tickets issued to drivers in Swale has rocketed since the service was contracted out, the KM Group can reveal.

Parking enforcement was out-sourced to Apcoa Parking Ltd in November 2011.

Following claims that the new service was over-zealous, the KM Group used the Freedom of Information Act to find out the exact figures.

We requested information of specific numbers of parking tickets issued and income generated in the months before and after the service was taken over.

The request revealed that from November 2010 to October 2011 – before out-sourcing – 14,052 fines were imposed, bringing in £339,819.

From November 2011 to October 2012 – after the private company was brought in – there were 21,673 penalty charges issued, generating £523,187.

Labour leader Cllr Roger Truelove said these were ‘striking figures’ and Cllr Duncan Dewar-Whalley (Con), portfolio holder for finance, admitted he was ‘astonished’.

Cllr Truelove said: “You could say that prior to the contract, the council was very inefficient at collecting parking fines, or you could say that the contractors are over-enthusiastic.

“The feeling of a lot of people is that the company is out to catch people, rather than run a service for the benefit of the community.

“There’s no apparent benefit to the public – we have no better car parks.”

Last year, he offered his support to businesses in West Street, Sittingbourne, who were losing trade because customers were frequently getting tickets while parking on a single yellow line outside.

He said at the time that traffic enforcement needed a commonsense approach.

But Cllr Dewar-Whalley defended the increases, saying: “If someone is committing an offence, they take their chance at being fined.

“The fact is that we have new people doing the job who are more efficient.

“People should not get away with not abiding by the regulations, it’s not fair on those who do.”

He said revenue covered the cost of enforcement and car park maintenance and pointed out that the council recently invested in new machines.