Time to ease up on parking tickets? - verbal warning idea splits opinion #BBCNolan

Good news for people like me - Government Ministers in England want more leniency over parking tickets. They've told traffic wardens to hand out more verbal warnings instead of fines for people who overstay parking!

Councils have been warned they should not be making lots of money from parking fines and should aim not to give any parking tickets at all if it's a minor breach and drivers who overstay their parking ticket should be treated more leniently than those who park on double yellow lines or in a disabled bays.

Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, claimed the move was part of a 'common sense approach to parking enforcement'.

But while this might be a dream come true for a serial parking ticket offender like me - Would you like to see this here too or would it increase congestion in town and city centres? Are parking tickets a necessary evil?