DRIVERS in Oxford have been reminded they face a fine if they park illegally on the city's streets.

The warning came from Ian Hudspeth, Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for transport, after the Government issued new guidelines to local authorities banning the clamping of cars for single offences.

Local authorities have also been told they should not set targets for raising revenue from parking fines.

The guidance from Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said councils "should not seek to make a surplus" through clamped parked cars.

Mr Hudspeth said: "This county council has never used clamping - it took a decision 15 years ago not to use it.

"But it's not the correct phraseology to suggest this council has a 'lenient' approach to parking enforcement, because Oxford is a small city and we have to keep the traffic moving.

"Parking attendants working for Control Plus operate a fair policy, but if drivers are parked illegally then they do risk getting a ticket.

"Our parking attendants are not on commission to hit targets and the number of tickets they hand out is not related to their pay.

"There is a perception the more tickets attendants hand out, the more they earn on commission. That is a myth."

'If I'm doing someone's patio round the back and I leave a note on the windscreen, they just slap a ticket on the windscreen' Roger Tredinnick Builder Roger Tredinnick, 53, of Edgington Place, Grove, said he had received a number of parking tickets when he was out working in the city.

He added: "If I'm doing someone's patio round the back and I leave a note on the windscreen, they just slap a ticket on the windscreen.

"A few of them might leave you alone if they see you are working, or say 'move it or I'll give you a ticket'.

"Lenient is not the word I would ever use."

Guidance to councils outside London also recommended a 15-minute "period of grace" for people parked after the parking ticket or time limit runs out.

County council spokesman Paul Smith said that Control Plus parking attendants operated a 15-minute period of grace for those using pay-and-display spaces, five minutes for those parked on yellow lines and 20 minutes for lorries.

Control Plus has a five-year, £6.5m contract with the county council to enforce on-street parking regulations in Oxford.

In 2005-6, wardens issued an average of 161 fines a day, bringing in £1.2m.

Fines gathered are used to pay the contract and the council said any surplus would be invested in "environmental and parking issues" in the city.