Retroactive legislation designed to enable the prosecution of parking offenders was tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The Traffic Offences Procedure Validation Act 1998 is a move to clear up doubts over the validity of parking tickets and subsequent prosecutions in Magistrates' Court.

Hundreds of parking offenders, issued with tickets in the first half of last year, escaped being taken to court through a legal loophole.

The legislation will amend administrative procedures concerning the payment of parking tickets, said Transport Wayne Furbert.

As it is retroactive, the Attorney General will now be able to go ahead with prosecutions and save the Government an estimated $250,000.

Last month the Attorney General was set to appeal a Magistrate's decision that parking tickets issued more than six months ago were no longer valid.

But at the last minute he dropped the appeal, fuelling speculation that hundreds of offenders would be let off the hook. However, the new legislation will validate all the tickets.