Embassies owe £1.5million in parking fines

FOREIGN diplomats have racked up £1.5million in unpaid parking fines in central London in the past four years, Westminster council has revealed.

Sixty per cent of tickets for illegal parking issued by the borough to embassy-owned cars are going unpaid.

Diplomats from Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan are the worst offenders, the council says.

The Sudanese embassy has failed to pay 811 parking fines since 2004 and owes more than £80,000. The number one culprit is the driver of a black Toyota Avensis who owes £37,000 for 349 tickets.

The driver of a Saudi Arabia-registered car owes £15,000 after refusing to pay 182 tickets and two Afghan diplomats owe the council almost £30,000 for 271 tickets. A Guinean diplomat who drives a £60,000 Mercedes S Class also owes £11,000 for 111 outstanding tickets, the driver of an Egyptian-registered Mercedes C Class has racked up £10,000 in fines and a diplomat from Kazakhstan who drives a £55,000 BMW owes more than £10,000 for 105 unpaid tickets.

Other offending cars are registered to the Turkish, Libyan and Georgian embassies.

Westminster says it is wrong for foreign diplomats to use their diplomatic immunity as an excuse to break traffic laws.

Councillor Danny Chalkley, cabinet member for environment and transport, added: "All motorists who break traffic laws should be subject to the same penalties, regardless of their citizenship or job title. We would like to see these diplomats respect the laws and regulations of the UK and pay their parking tickets."