Controversial new Seaham parking scheme sees drivers fork out £45,000 in charges and fines in first month

Controversial new parking charges on Seaham's sea front have raised tens of thousands of pounds in just their first month in operation, a Freedom of Information investigation has revealed.

Ticket machines were installed in six car parks and on freshly painted bays on North Road, on April 15. All had previously been free to use.

The six car parks are: Vane Tempest Beach, Terrace Green (beside the Tommy statue), Dock Top (opposite Bell's fish and chips), Nose's Point, Seaham Marina and the Seaham Hall car park (which surrounds the North Beach coffee bar).

The Echo made a Freedom of Information request to find out how much had been made from the new charges, as well as from Penalty Charge Notices (parking fines) issued to motorists for parking without displaying a valid ticket.

Between April 15 and May 15, machines in the six car parks gathered £32,224.40, while machines for the 32 parking bays on North Road brought £1,460.85 - a total of £33,685.25.

And a total of 259 parking fines were issued to those flouting the new restrictions. At a minimum of £50 per fine this equates to around £12,000.

This brings the first month's total from charges and fines to about £45,000.

On April 15 parking charges in the affected places rose from zero to £1 an hour, or £3 to park all day, every day between 8am and 6pm. Motorcycles are free. Blue Badge holders pay the same as everyone else in the six car parks.

The county council says there is free disabled parking "in all our on-street parking facilities", which includes North Road, although there is no signage there to say that blue badge parking is free.

The coalition-run Durham County Council has said the new charges “are aimed at helping people access parking provision, supporting the county’s town centres and tourist attractions and benefiting the environment”.

However, when the proposals to end free parking were introduced in October 2023, they met with opposition from local businesses, Seaham Town Council and local Labour MP Grahame Morris.

Three days after the charges were introduced, vandals toppled a ticket machine in the Vane Tempest Car Park and graffitied signage.