NORTH Ayrshire Council have brought in over £85,000 in parking fines in little over three months.

The figure was revealed after a freedom of information request was submitted to the local authority.

The data obtained showed that a total of 2,432 penalty charge notices have been issued since decriminalised parking enforcement was rolled out across the county on April 15.

Of the notices issued, 1,640 have already been paid. The charge is set at £100, though is reduced by half if paid within the first 14 days of the fine being issued.

Almost all - 1,565 - of the fines paid so far were at the reduced rate, with the remaining 75 paid up in full.

This means a total sum of £85,750 has been earned by the local authority since taking control of parking enforcement.

Any fines not paid within 56 days of the issue date would then see the fee increased to £150.

After 71 days the council can issue a charge certificate and if the fine is not paid within another two weeks, the file will be passed to a sheriff's officer which would lead to debt recovery involving the court system.

However, at this stage, no fines have been referred to sheriffs.

Of the fines handed out so far, the most common offence was parking 'out of pay', with an estimated 541 drivers penalised.

Further to this, approximately 524 people have been fined for parking in no waiting areas, 401 for parking on pavements, 236 for exceeding time limits, 135 for parking on loading bays during restricted hours and 119 drivers for parking in disabled bays without displaying a valid badge.

The most common area where offences were committed was the Chapelwell Street car park - to the rear of the Bank of Scotland - in Saltcoats, where 237 drivers have committed offences.

Though the most fines have been handed out in Largs, with 893 fines handed out in the town.

Of the 2,432 notices handed out, 653 were issued in Irvine, 547 in Saltcoats, 124 in Kilwinning and 41 in Ardrossan.