ONE in three parking fines issued in East Lothian since the introduction of private parking attendants was given to people who had not paid to use coastal car parks.

More than 1,000 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) have been issued since the parking attendants were given the power to fine rogue motorists on January 23 this year.

But a meeting of East Lothian Council’s policy and performance review committee heard that over a third were given to people caught not paying the controversial £2 beach parking charge introduced in the summer of 2015, with nearly 120 tickets issued over one 10-day period alone.

In total, the parking attendants have issued 305 PCNs to people for not paying to park in 11 coastal car parks where the charges have been introduced.

The meeting was told that revenue from the £2 coastal parking charge had been about £100,000 since last April – well below the £300,000 expected in the council’s budget for the financial year.

During the meeting, Councillor Paul McLennan (SNP) claimed that the reduced revenue generated from the coastal car park ticket fees was “clear evidence” that people were no longer going to East Lothian’s beaches because of them.

However But Councillor Jim Goodfellow (Labour) defending the charges, saying the figures did not show a drop in tourism; insisting they demonstrated instead a “vast amount of avoidance”.

Mr McLennan, whose SNP opposition group has pledged to scrap the car park charges if victorious in May’s election, said the tickets bought showed the drop in use of the car parks.

He said: “Initially it was claimed by council leader Willie Innes that charges would generate £1 million in revenue, based on 500,000 vehicles visiting the beach car parks each year.

“Now we are talking about £150,000 since it started.

“There is clear evidence that people are not visiting East Lothian; the number of visitors has dropped dramatically if you look at those figures.”

Mr McLennan said he had carried out numerous surveys of people in Dunbar about their views on the car park charges and told the committee: “Ninety-five per cent of people in my ward are against coastal car park charges. People are voting with their feet, they are not going to East Lothian’s beaches.”

And fellow SNP councillor and chairman of the committee Peter MacKenzie pointed to the figures for Longniddry Bents No 3 car park.

He said: “The number of tickets for Longniddry Bents 3 comes to 17,000 tickets issued. A number of years back, Longniddry Bents in total was the leading visitor attraction in the county.”

Mr Goodfellow, however, said he had also carried out a survey and found that visitors to the county were happy to pay.

He said: “The figures do not show a drop in tourism, they show a vast amount of avoidance. I have done a survey and 90 per cent of people who I talked to at Yellowcraig described the charges as a bargain.

“These are tourists, not a survey of people who live in Dunbar. The tourists feel they get a bargain, with £2 allowing them access to toilets, showers, the area and a rangers service.”

While Councillor Norman Hampshire insisted there had been an increase in the number of visitors to the beaches.

He said: “The number of visitors is increasing. The investment required in our coastal areas is significant. This is a way to get money for this area and if you take that money away you will have to take it from other areas.”