Bromley Council has hit back at claims it sets targets for the number of parking tickets issued each year.

In a report published by Which? it claimed Bromley Council expects parking attendants to issue 65,500 tickets a year.

The consumer magazine says setting targets is against Department for Transport guidelines.

Its editor Martyn Hocking said: “Of course it’s fair to stop people parking on your land or to charge them a fee for the privilege, but it should be absolutely clear where people can and can’t park, and what the charges and penalties are.

“It’s not right that huge sums can be extracted from unsuspecting drivers, or that incentive schemes can be used to discourage people from appealing fines.”

But Bromley Council says it is “open and honest” and would never set targets for its parking attendants.

Portfolio holder for the environment Councillor Colin Smith said: “You would expect any organisation to be forecasting their levels of expenditure and income and that’s all we are doing.

“It’s about efficient management, so of course, we try and forecast the numbers of penalty charge notices (PCNs) which might be issued as part of managing our budgets.

“We’ve always said we’re open and honest - all the information about PCNs appears on our website in our award winning annual parking report.

“In any case, this is not about money – our forecast number for 2008/09 was lower than it was in 2000/01, we simply don’t want people parking on yellow lines creating danger and inconvenience to traders and residents alike.

“Legally, any surplus monies has to be spent on transport and for Bromley, with the largest number of elderly residents in London, the vast bulk goes towards paying for freedom passes.”

Figures from the London Councils organisation, which represents the capital’s local authorities, show 80,512 PCNs were issued in the borough during the 2008/09 financial year, compared to 82,209 tickets in the previous 12 months.