MORE than £42,000 of parking fines handed out to foreign motorists in Southampton have been ripped up as the city council is unable to trace the drivers.

The city council handed out 751 tickets to foreign drivers from April 1 2013 to March 31 2014, but has not been able to trace the drivers due to the fact visitors to the UK do not have to have their cars registered.

That meant that £42,025 in fines had to be ripped up.

Currently, European vehicles can be driven on UK roads for six months before having to register with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, but the Government does not keep a record of the estimated three million vehicles entering the country each year.

The DVLA only records information about non-UK vehicles when they are notified about offences by the police or tip-offs from the public, meaning foreign drivers can return home without their vehicle being registered.

That means council officers in Southampton and elsewhere are left with the impossible task of trying to track down foreign drivers.