For the first time, the number of traffic fines issued in London in a year has passed the six million mark.

It begs the question: Is there a war against drivers? Judged by the kind of war stories most drivers can tell, it certainly seems that way.
We have reported on Jake Fury, the driver fined £100 as he gave first-aid to a 13-year-old girl knocked down by another car in Wood Green, east London.

“She was conscious but screaming in pain,” said the musician and qualified first-aider. “At the time a dozen people pleaded with (the Haringey Council warden) not to give me a ticket.”

Then there was Nicola Lynch, a mum ticketed by a Sutton Council warden while she helped her friend's choking baby.

Worse, the borough councillor Nadhim Zahawi had a ticket slapped on his mangled moped just after he had an accident. A Lambeth warden issued it while he was receiving treatment in the back of an ambulance.

And even if you don't park illegally, they'll make sure you do, said motorist Gary Caulson. He got three tickets after fresh double yellow lines were painted underneath his parked car in Waltham Forest – even though the gaps were clearly visible where the tyres met the road.

"It just seems that the motorist is a cash cow and people want to get as much money out of him as they can," he said.

It is encouraging that borough councils have issued 3.5% fewer parking tickets in the 12 months to March compared to the nearly 5 million of the year before. The largest drop was in Westminster, where the council have scrapped bonuses for wardens who issue the most tickets.

Nevertheless, more and more CCTV cameras now serve as wardens, filming parking and moving traffic offences of drivers who think they are safe without a traffic attendant in sight.

In the last tax year, London’s authorities made about £500 million from tickets. Westminster alone earned £130 million - three times its income from council tax.

Part of the problem is that councils have come to depend on income from traffic fines. With the national government capping council tax rises and limiting other sources of local income, councils lack the power to raise their own funds. They have little other option but to milk the motorist.

Do you have a parking war story to tell? What do you think is the solution?