Parking ticket fines are likely to go up in most parts of Brent by £20 after new proposals were approved by the council’s cabinet.

The penalty charge notice (PCN) fee will be up to £130 across the whole borough, bringing it in line with measures already in place in parts of Wembley.

Previously, the most you could be charged outside these areas was £110.

Under the new system, a PCN of £130 would apply to ‘higher’ – more serious – offences where parking is tightly restricted or banned altogether, such as on yellow lines or keep clear zig zags.

A ‘lower’ fine of £80 would be applied for breaking rules where parking is permitted but controlled, such as in a resident-only bay or a car park.

Drivers will still be given the opportunity to pay a reduced fine – usually 50 per cent of the original amount – if they do so within a certain timeframe.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, said it “doesn’t make sense to have a split” anymore, and that this will bring uniformity to the PCN system in the borough.

Despite the increase, the council believes it will not result in additional income since it will “be balanced by a reduction in the number of conventions, due to the greater deterrent effect”.

Following approval by the council’s cabinet, the proposals will be passed on to London Councils and the Transport Secretary.

The council also agreed to raise the costs of visitor parking permits in line with any bus fare increases imposed by Transport for London (TfL).

This, it explained, is to discourage people from using cars if they are cheaper than public transport.

According to a council report, the increase – which will be calculated based on TfL’s decision – will bring in an extra £15,000-£20,000 of revenue each year.

As part of the same report, the council announced that those with parking permits can now get a bigger refund if they choose to cancel them.

Due to “reduced admin costs”, the maximum refund available to people who cancel has gone up from 33 per cent to 50 per cent.

For example, those with year-long permits can now get up to six months’ worth of costs back depending on what is left unused, whereas previously this stood at a maximum of four months.