THE snow earlier this year may have caused potholes, pile-ups and plummeting temperatures, but at least it stopped Colchester's traffic wardens from handing out parking fines.

From January 6 to 9, wardens handed just 36 tickets in the space of four days, compared with 202 in the same period last year.

On January 6 itself, only one motorist received a fine.

The severe snow meant double yellow lines across the borough were not visible, and council chiefs decided not to issue tickets to cars which may have been parked in restricted zones.

The borough’s parking service was already running at a loss of £200,000, and the lost revenue from parking fines means its coffers will need further bolstering from the council’s budget.

Paul Smith, Colchester councillor responsible for resources, said: “Our parking wardens were giving people the benefit of the doubt.

“If we are issuing fewer tickets, we are increasing the loss.

“The amount we get from parking fines should cover the cost of the enforcement in parking, but it’s not covering the cost at the moment.”

Traffic wardens were taken off their normal patrols to help with keeping the town moving during the snow.

Despite this, 1,818 tickets were issued across the borough throughout January. This was 63 more than January 2009.

Richard Walker, parking services manager at Colchester Council, said: “While more penalties have been issued overall, the number of fines issued when there was significant snow was affected.

“Officers assisted colleagues in other duties – gritting and winter maintenance, for instance.”

At a scrutiny meeting last week, Mr Smith said the loss of money from parking tickets had impacted on budget savings for the year.

It had been budgeted the council would save a total of £699,000, but the council’s own estimates show the projected underspend is £79,000 less than this.