DRIVERS in Southampton who have not paid their parking fines had better beware.

City transport bosses have warned thousands of motorists in the city that they will be sending in the bailiffs if they do not stump up the cash for parking illegally.

The bailiffs will have the power to seize goods from drivers to help pay the costs of their parking fines.

Transport chiefs stand to bring in more than £807,000 for city coffers if all drivers pay up their outstanding tickets.

If all the fines were collected it would mean that more than £2m would be netted for city coffers from parking fines issued last year - more than double the total for 2001/2 when the police handed out parking tickets.

About 8,500 drivers have not paid up since the city council took over handing out tickets from the police two years ago.

Over the past six months, parking chiefs have written to motorists who still have outstanding payments.

And they warn they will be getting tough with drivers who have so far refused to pay.

Drivers who have not paid their fines will be moved straight to a debt register this week, with the cost of each parking ticket rising to £95 once a motorist is logged in.

The cost of the bailiff's fees will be added to the fine if enforcement officers have to be sent to collect the debt.

Parking bosses will initially target motorists who have not paid since February 2002 when the council took over enforcing parking regulations from the police.

Cabinet member for environment and transport Councillor Jill Baston said: "Most people play fair and pay up. I don't think it is right that some people can get away with not paying.

"Drivers who have not paid will have heard from us several times. We give people a fair chance to pay up. We have a duty to recover that money and our intention is to recover the money in full. This process is standard practice among those authorities who have decriminalised parking."

She added: "Clearly the money is useful to councils and is ploughed back into ways that can assist us. I don't think it is unreasonable to pursue people who don't pay fines."

Last week, the Daily Echo revealed how city transport chiefs had netted £1.2m in the first 12 months since parking was decriminalised.

New-look wardens employed by the council issued 46,398 tickets last year - the 16th highest of any local authority in Britain out of the 68 that police parking offences. The figures for 2003 showed a drop of around 7,000 tickets issued jointly by police and council officials the previous year.

The revenue raised when the two organisations worked together was about £970,000 - even though more tickets were issued.

The fresh clampdown was condemned by the Association of British Drivers, who branded the decriminalisation of parking as a "money-making scam."

Spokesman Nigel Humphries said: "The whole process is a scam. It is about money-making. It is fundamentally wrong that the local council have control over the setting of the laws and their enforcement, and then benefit financially from that enforcement."

AA spokesman Rebecca Rees said that the motoring organisation had no problems with bailiffs being used to collect outstanding fines - providing they were targeting the right people.

She said: "Innocent drivers are intimidated by these people coming round to their house. Coun-cils need to tighten up their checking procedures so that the right people are visited by the bailiffs and letters from drivers saying that the person does not live at the address are responded to."

Anyone wishing to pay parking tickets should immediately call 023 8083 4600.