FOR the second time this year Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC) has topped the charts, claiming the highest number of issued Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for the second quarter.
PCNs, more commonly known as parking tickets, are issued for vehicles found to be parked in contravention of on-street and off-street parking restrictions and also for vehicles detected driving in bus lanes and bus-only streets (moving traffic offences).
Although not something to boast about, between April and June this year our local council has accumulated 1,204 off-street parking tickets, accounting for 13 per cent of the 9,090 PCNs issued across Northern Ireland.
By contrast, the lowest issue in the second quarter of this year was in Antrim and Newtownabbey, which recorded 199 PCNs.
The second highest for this quarter was Derry City and Strabane, which clocked up 1,064. 
And having come top of the PCN league in the first quarter as well, FODC has the highest number of off-street PCNs for 2017 thus far, with 2,388. Armagh City, Bambridge and Craigavon Council comes in second with 2,047.
A breakdown of the second quarter figures show that Enniskillen amassed 1,084 of the local council’s off-street PCN total. Omagh, meanwhile, claimed 1,304.
In terms of on-street parking, across Northern Ireland between April and June this year 22,991 PCNs were recorded.
Enniskillen accounted for 515 of these, Omagh had 547.
Fermanagh’s second highest town, Lisnaskea, has recorded 26 on-street PCNs in the second quarter of the year and Irvinestown has recorded 30.
Dromore, just a few miles from Irvinestown on the other hand, has not recorded any PCNs so far this year.
The statistics were released by the Department of Infrastructure at the end of last week.
A spokesperson for the Department said: “The aim of parking and bus lane enforcement is to reduce the number of vehicles illegally parked on our roads or driving in bus lanes or other bus priority measures. This in turn reduces traffic congestion and helps traffic to flow more freely, assists delivery vehicles, allows buses to keep to their timetable and improves bus journey times, improves road safety and provides accessibility for all road users, including Blue Badge holders.
“The enforcement of on-street limited waiting and pay and display spaces, Park and Ride charged car parks and Council operated car parks also encourages a turnover of parking spaces, giving shoppers and visitors more opportunities to find suitable parking.”
This is the third such report produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). 
The publication is available on the ASRB website at: https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/articles/penalty-charge-notice-statistics