The number of parking tickets issued annually in Northern Ireland is declining, the Assembly has heard.

In 2015, 110,00 fines were issued – about 300 a day. However, this total is a drop of more than 50,000 on 2007’s peak figure, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard said: “The number of penalty charge notices issued has fallen from an all-time high of 163,000 in 2007 to 110,000 in 2015, despite the number of vehicles rising in that same period by up to 5 per cent.”

He will now consider a sliding scale of fines for different parking offences after a vote urged him to look again at the flat £90 fine.

However, Mr Hazzard dismissed suggestions of a significant reduction, to £15.

He said: “If we reduced it to that, I would be very worried at the impact it might have on urban clearways and main arterial routes.”

Mr Hazzard added that he would consider different fines for different offences, saying: “Parking two or three inches outside a parking bay should not carry the same weight as blocking a main arterial route into the city. I am more than happy to look at that.”