A parking ticket was issued in Haringey every three minutes last year, according to figures obtained in a Freedom of Information request.

The request, submitted by Churchill Car Insurance, revealed that Haringey Borough Council gave out 163,637 parking tickets and collected £7,679,928 in fines in 2013.

Of the 187 local councils that provided responses, Haringey issued the fourth highest number of parking tickets.

The borough was beaten only by Westminster Borough Council, Newham Borough Council and Barnet Borough Council, in that order.

Last year, research from the RAC Motoring Foundation revealed that the amount of money collected by Haringey for both on and off-street parking had gone up by 24 per cent from £12million to £14.8million from 2009/10 to 2011/12.

Moaz Nanjuwany, the chairman of the Tottenham Traders Partnership, was shocked by the figures and claims parking restrictions have “devastated” the borough’s high streets.

He said: “Our customers have to be able to get to us and if a person is old or frail then they have to drive and they have to park.

“All the fines generate a really bad and negative feeling in the community and they leave businesses devastated.

“A lot of people complain to me that parking rules and the signs are really confusing and it puts people off from shopping locally, especially with all the controlled parking zones.”

Mr Nanjuwany, who runs Hammond Eye Practice, in High Road, Tottenham, called on the council to provide more parking spaces and simplify the parking signs.

Haringey’s Liberal Democrats have previously called on the authority to allow 30 minutes of free parking on the borough’s high streets.

Councillor Katherine Reece, the deputy Liberal Democrat group leader, said: “I’m sure many motorists will not be surprised to hear that Haringey issued the fourth highest amount of parking tickets in the country.

“Haringey has a poor record on parking ticket appeals, losing nearly half of them in 2011 and 2012, which would suggest some of the 163,637 tickets issued by the borough last year may not be fair.”

The Stroud Green councillor echoed concerns about the impact of so many fines on local businesses.

She said: "The law has now made it very clear that there are legal constraints on how councils charge for parking.

“We have previously asked Haringey Council for assurances that it is complying with the law and that it is not charging motorists unfairly.”

A Haringey Council spokesman defended the figures and said: “Enforcement allows us to keep the borough moving and take action against those who flout parking rules.

“Any surplus in parking revenue in Haringey is re-invested in highway improvements, concessionary travel for elderly and disabled people and residential parking schemes to help people park closer to home.

“Drivers who park illegally in Haringey should expect to receive a ticket.”