Over 100 One Direction fans slapped with parking fines at Sheffield gigs

One Direction fans were slapped with over a hundred parking fines during the band’s three day stint at Sheffield Arena.

Sheffield Council caught out 106 drivers with a number of cars being parked illegally during the sell-out shows on October 29, 30 and 31.

It’s estimated that the council raked in around £3,500 worth of parking fines as many giddy gig goers got a miserable end to what would have been a great show.

Figures obtained by The Star’s Your Right To Know Campaign showed that 106 motorists had to pay at least £35, with fines rising to £70 if unpaid for more than 14 days.

One of several cars with a fixed penalty notice parked on the pavement between Valley Centretainment and Meadowhall Retail Park during a One Direction gig at Sheffield Arena.

With the arena car park being full, many 1D fans parked in the Valley Centretainment and Meadowhall Retail Park instead.

But many cars were also left on grass verges and directly on footpaths which resulted in dozens of tickets being issued.

Predictably, fans tried to avoiding the arena parking charge and ended up being hit with a much bigger one.

On Thursday and Friday’s show, Civil Enforcement Officers handed out 31 fixed penalty notices and 44 were issued on the Saturday.

(Left - right) Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction.

But despite the large amount of tickets issued, Sheffield Council denied that extra staff were on shift for the One Direction concerts.

A council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the concerts were covered by our normal evening shift of three civil enforcement Officers.

“There were no additional staff deployed.”

On the total sum of fines imposed, the council added that the overall figure would reflect more accurately people paying the early charge of £35.

“Based on past experience, the average amount we collect is nearer the lower figure than the higher one, closer to £3,500.

“As a matter of course, we enforce at any event at which we believe there are likely to be parking contraventions.

“We regularly attend football matches, City Hall events and arena events. Experience tells us that large arena events tend to result in parking issues, so our evening shift we attend when they can.

“Unfortunately, drivers often park illegally on footpaths and similar areas around the arena and Meadowhall retail park areas when there are arena events.”

The figures come as new research released by the charity Guide Dogs identified that 75 per cent of people in Sheffield would support a new law to tackle the problem of pavement parking.