A senior has criticised the authorities for twice turning him away when he tried to pay a parking fine — despite Government losing more than $1 million in revenue last year from unpaid tickets.

Michael Bickley, 75, was more than willing to cough up the $50 he was charged on July 24 after he parked for too long on a street in St. George's.

The pensioner drove from his home in Ferry Reach to Hamilton on two occasions during the next fortnight — but was told both times by cashiers at Magistrates' Court that their computer systems were down and he'd have to return another day.

Mr. Bickley put his foot down the second time, on August 5, and insisted on leaving a cheque for the full amount. He has yet to receive a receipt in the post.

He told The Royal Gazette: "I got the fine on a Saturday and went in on the Monday morning to pay. They told me I couldn't pay my ticket because the systems were down.

"I went in again last week and said I want to pay and they wouldn't let me again. So then I said: 'I don't want to be bothered with this'. Talk about government inefficiency."

Mr. Bickley said it was no wonder two-thirds of parking tickets issued in 2008 remained unpaid after six months, according to answers to parliamentary questions given last month.

The questions from Senator Michael Fahy revealed that of 33,000 fines issued to motorists in 2008, 23,333 were still unpaid six months later.

"It is quite understandable why there's such a huge backlog of parking tickets," said Mr. Bickley. "It is government inefficiency. It is ridiculous."

Government did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.