The North York Moors National Park Authority is planning to introduce cameras in its car parks to stop motorists parking without paying.
The authority will trial an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system at Newton-under-Roseberry Car Park, near Great Ayton, where almost one in five drivers fail to buy a ticket.
The system could then be rolled out to other car parks if it proves a success.
Lucas St John, the park’s commercial manager, told members at a meeting today (Monday 22 September) that non-payment cost the authority £25,000 for the car park near Roseberry Topping alone.
He added: “Unfortunately, we’re seeing our non-compliance percentages rise.
“The reason I’m pursuing this avenue is that I feel we’ve got a position now where this isn’t sustainable for us to operate in with the current environment the authority finds itself in, the loss of revenue we’re seeing at our locations and not having a mechanism to challenge this.”
Mr St John said the authority was not looking to create additional revenue through the issuing of excessive fines from the system, just recovering the cost of the ticket.
The ANPR system would reconcile vehicle data against payments made via the existing parking machines and pay-by-phone system.
Officers hope that as well as improving compliance, it would reduce vandalism and anti-social behaviour at the car park with the meeting told that thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to the Newton-under-Roseberry Car Park toilets at the weekend.
The 12-month pilot project was backed by members.
