Parking fines of £75k owed by off-island vehicles

More than 1,300 tickets issued to non-Manx registered vehicles between April 2022 and March 2025 remain unpaid, the infrastructure minister has confirmed.

Speaking during a House of Keys sitting this week, Michelle Haywood said it meant outstanding fines amounted to £75,390 across the period.

The Department of Infrastructure (DOI) could not chase an unpaid ticket issued to a UK car owner as it did not have access to the licensing database, she explained.

But some MHKs questioned if new number plate recognition technology, set to be introduced at Douglas harbour next month, could be used to recoup funds.

It was confirmed that between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, a total of 735 parking tickets were issued to non-Manx registered vehicles.

Of those 372 tickets with a value of £23,430 were paid and 363 with a value of £20,850 remain outstanding.

In the 2023-2024 financial year, 916 parking tickets were issued to owners of off-island vehicles, 388 tickets with a value of £24,270 were paid, and 528 with a value of £30,990 were not.

Between April 2024 and March 2025, a total of 744 parking tickets were issued to non-Manx registered vehicles, 449 with a value of £23,550 remain outstanding, while 295 tickets with a value of £18,570 were paid.

During the sitting, Jason Moorhouse asked if "given the substantial value" of the fines any discussions with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) had taken place about incorporating "some kind of catch system" into a new number plate recognition scheme.

In February, the Isle of Man Constabulary announced it would be joining the UK's Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) database in March, with cameras at the Manx port set to be connected to it in May, allowing checks on vehicles travelling on and off the ferries.

Haywood said the General Registry was the responsible authority for collecting the fines, but she would undertake to have a conversation with them to see if they would enquire about doing so with the DHA.

She also confirmed the DOI did not have the authority to write off the fines but it did carry out periodic checks as to whether vehicles with outstanding fines had since been registered on the island, to then follow up on notices.

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