Parking tickets and driving fines are at a seven-year low in the borough.

There were a total of 206,279 penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued by Islington Council for parking, traffic and bus-lane violations over the past year. That number includes 163,645 parking penalties and 37,180 traffic penalties.

The figure was down by nearly 37,000 compared to the previous year.

The release of the statistics follows the news that councils in London have reported a 22 per cent decrease in the total number of penalties issued across the capital in the last three years.

Islington Council leader Cllr Catherine West, who also chairs London Councils’ transport and environment committee, believes that the recession may be partly responsible.

She said: “These tough economic times may mean that drivers decide they cannot afford to risk incurring a penalty charge notice.”