Parking fines totalling £75,059 were slapped on motorists on one city centre street in the space of just 12 months, it has emerged.

A total of 2,806 Penalty Charge Notices were handed out on Piccadilly, Bradford, last year – more than any other street in the district.

Bradford Council said it did not set targets for wardens to issue a certain number of tickets, adding that it did not use parking as a “cash cow.”

But some critics, including businesses and motorists, blamed the Council for a lack of clear signage and marked bays to distinguish between a disabled bay/drop-off zone and regular pay-and-display parking on the bottom half of Piccadilly, in between its junctions with Duke Street and Kirkgate.

The disabled/drop-off zone stretches from the bottom about 40 metres up the right of Piccadilly, before meeting the pay-and-display section. There are signs at either end of the disabled area and clear markings to show the zone has ended, but no words painted on the road to say what the stretch is for.

Julie Myers, assistant manager at the RSPCA shop at the bottom of Piccadilly, said: “They have changed that sign across the way that many times that people do not know if they are coming or going. People think they can park in that bay with a ticket.

“My stock level has gone down, because if people cannot park they cannot drop stock off. If they have to go up the road to park they don’t want to walk back down.”

One man, who did not wish to be named, said: “There is no difference between the lines – you think you are OK and have bought a ticket, but then you get fined.”

A woman whose parents used to drop stock off at the RSPCA shop said: “My mum and dad are frightened to death of parking out here.

“They used to donate to the RSPCA but they don’t anymore.”

Bradford Chamber of Commerce said that the number of notices for just one street seemed very high.

“Perhaps it might be worthwhile trying to find out why there are so many for one street, rather than just keep issuing tickets,” said a spokesman.

“This would show that the Council want to prevent illegal parking, rather than just, as some people claim, use the charges as a cash-cow.”

Councillor Andrew Thornton, the Council’s executive member for environment, said people got penalties when they parked illegally or did not pay for the amount of time they stayed.

Cash from general parking charges goes to the general revenue account, while those from penalty notices pays for traffic wardens and improvements to traffic and highways, he said.

“We are not using these charges as a cash cow,” he added.

The figures, released after a Freedom of Information request, also revealed that a 227-space pay and display car park in South Hawksworth Street, Ilkley, was the district's biggest earner for overall parking revenue, with a total income of £250,711 during 2012.