Envoys owe £1.4m in fines

Foreign diplomats owe Westminster council almost £1.4 million in outstanding parking fines, a Freedom of Information Request has revealed. Sudan is the biggest offender, running up debts of £129,860 since 2006, followed by Kazakhstan, which owes £127,000. By contrast, Seychelles envoys have no outstanding parking fines. But the council said many fines were due to lack of understanding. Efforts to communicate with missions to recoup the money is showing dividends: the payment rate in 2012 was 66 per cent, compared to just 28 per cent in 2006.