TRAFFIC wardens in Swansea got it wrong almost 4,000 times last year, figures have revealed.

In fact over one in 10 parking tickets issued by the council between November 2008 and November 2009 were successfully challenged by members of the public.

Figures obtained by the Evening Post through the Freedom of Information Act show that over half of parking tickets appealed were eventually dismissed.

And some members of the public feel that trigger happy traffic wardens armed with ticket printing machines are making too many mistakes.

Brynmill resident Calvin Thomas successfully challenged the council last year after being issued with a fine for parking outside his house on Rhyddings Park Road.

The 26-year-old had parked momentarily on single yellow lines on Rhyddings Park Road to unload his car.

He was suffering from an ankle injury at the time.

"In my case they could not have known about my leg and in fairness they overturned the ticket on compassionate grounds, but I was only parked for 10 minutes.

"They must have seen me coming and going but they took their chance to swoop while I was in the house. It seems that wardens are getting it increasingly wrong.

"I have a friend whose ticket was overturned because the traffic warden had issued a ticket while he was parked in a two-hour bay, but my friend had only been parked there for just over an hour."

In December, the Post revealed the number of parking tickets dished out to motorists in Swansea almost tripled over the past year.

The sharp rise comes after the council took over responsibility for parking enforcement in the city from police in September 2008.

In a response to the Post's latest freedom of information inquiry, a council spokesman said: "Between November 1, 2008, and November 30, 2009, the authority issued 27,120 Penalty Charge Notices.

"The number of appeals received was 7,079 (there may be more than one letter per case), of which 3,844 appeals were accepted."

Mr Thomas thinks those statistics are too high.

"It seems the council is becoming increasingly reliant on cash generated from parking fines.

"Mistakes are being made because of their greed," he said.

However, the authority believes that offering drivers the chance to prove their innocence is an important part of the process.

The spokesman said: "Part of the Civil Parking Enforcement Service provides motorists with the opportunity to appeal against a fixed penalty notice.

"Each appeal is treated as an individual case.

"It is important that we show an adequate level of understanding towards motorists who may have parked unlawfully and have received a penalty notice.

"This means we will consider mitigating factors before requesting the motorist pays any fine.

"The council has published a discretion guide on its website giving the public more information about appealing against a parking fine," he said.

In Thursday's Evening Post: How to pick your parking fine battles - and win.