Embassies owe £1.5m parking fines

Embassies in central London owe more than £1.5m in unpaid parking fines, including one Sudanese diplomat who owes £37,000 for 349 separate tickets.

Westminster Council has begun talks with the Foreign Office in a bid to get foreign governments to pay up.

Among the worst offenders were diplomats from Sudan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

A spokesman for the Afghan embassy said staff and visitors had trouble trying to park outside the building.

Councillor Danny Chalkley said it was time for foreign dignitaries to "play fair" and obey parking laws.

He said: "All motorists who break traffic laws should be subject to the same penalties, regardless of their citizenship or job title.

"No-one likes getting a parking ticket but most motorists play fair and either pay the fine or follow the appeals process."

Lack of parking

Mr Chalkley accused diplomats of hiding behind immunity and using it as an excuse to break the law.

Among those listed as the worst offenders were:

• A Saudi Arabian car with 182 tickets totalling £15,000 in fines.
• Two Afghan diplomats who owe almost £30,000 for 271 separate parking infractions.
• A diplomat from Guinea who owes £11,000 for 111 tickets.
• A Kazakh diplomat who owes £10,000 for 105 unpaid tickets.
• The Sudanese embassy has the highest amount outstanding, owing a total of £80,000 from three cars for 811 tickets.

A spokesman for the Afghan embassy in South Kensington said the diplomatic staff have had repeated applications for an additional parking bay turned down by local officials.

"We are getting tickets for parking in front of our own embassy, to access our own embassy," he said.

"We do attempt to follow the parking regulations of London and any outstanding fines are regrettable."

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