But the number of successful appeals against the fines has jumped 20 percent, amid claims that cash-starved councils are using the systems to fill 'black holes' in their coffers.
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal in Britain has criticised how councils are using the cars to target illegal parking, and quashed more than 8,000 such fines which arrived in the post.
The Tribunal gave instances of a fine being issued on very short video footage—in one case the 46 seconds it took the occupants to switch drivers.
It also noted that camera cars were themselves sometimes parking on double yellow lines to 'sting' drivers. And many councils had failed to put up signs warning that CCTV was in operation.
The use of such camera cars was made legal in the UK in 2008.
