A Fife man had to pay out more than £1,600 to get his car back after it was clamped because he had repeatedly failed to pay outstanding court fines.
The Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) said the Dunfermline driver – who has not been named – had five unpaid fines for road traffic and vehicle licensing offences imposed at courts in Dunfermline and Edinburgh between January 2015 and July 2016.
After joint enforcement action was taken by officers in the Lothian and Borders and Tayside, Fife and Central Sheriffdoms, a seizure of vehicle order was issued and the man’s Audi car was clamped at his home.
He settled the fines totalling £1,633 in full before having the car released, although he also had to pay a further £68 charge to have the clamp removed.
Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service chief operations officer David Fraser said: “The fines enforcement team continue to be highly effective in securing unpaid fines – ignoring your fine and not speaking to an enforcement officer if you are having difficulty paying is very unwise.
“Failure to pay, or to engage with our officers, will result in strong sanctions being taken.”
A new report released by SCTS has also revealed that its fines collection rate remains consistently strong.
It shows that 87% of the value of Sheriff Court fines imposed during a three-year period between April 1 2012 and March 31 2015 has either been fully paid or is on track to be paid through instalments.
