CRIMINALS in Hampshire have racked up £16 million in unpaid court fines, according to new Government figures.

The total outstanding bill owed by those who have received fines at crown and magistrates’ courts in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight stood at £16,166,430, by the end of March last year.

That figure includes £5,702,306 of unpaid fines that were issued in 2013/14 alone.

Fines are handed out by the courts for a variety of offences, from the more serious, such as fraud, to driving offences and shoplifting.

The total figure of unpaid fines in the country stands at £549million, with 61 per cent of fines either written off or uncollected.

The information was released by courts minister Shailesh Vara, after a parliamentary question submitted by shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter.

Mr Slaughter, Labour MP for Hammersmith, said: “We are talking about shockingly large sums of money at a time when the courts are being starved of resources leading to chaos, delays and miscarriages of justice.

“It is a scandal that half a billion pounds remains uncollected. The Government can’t possibly be taking this seriously given they are pressing ahead with cuts to enforcements officers.”

But Mr Vara said: “This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid.

“This is why there has been a year on year increase in the total amount of financial penalties collected over the last three years.

“The amount of money collected reached an all-time high of £290million at the end of 2013/14 and collections continue to rise. In 2013/14 the total outstanding balance of financial impositions reduced by £26.7million (five per cent) in the year.”