COURTS in North Yorkshire have the best record in England and Wales for collecting court fines, it was revealed today.

In the financial year which ended in March 2004, 98 per cent of financial penalties handed down by magistrates were collected.

During the last three months of the year, the figure was 138 per cent - as courts were also managing to collect fines outstanding from previous years.

The figures, published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), show the county has easily hit the Government's target for fine collection.

A goal of 75 per cent had been set in an effort to cut the number of offenders escaping justice by not paying.

Two years ago, a damning report by the Commons public accounts committee warned that the payments of fines was "almost voluntary" in many areas.

Since then, magistrates courts have been given a range of new powers to catch up with defaulters, including the power to deduct fines from wages or benefits.

Fines are no longer written off after 12 months, and offenders who fail to provide details of income and expenditure are guilty of a fresh offence.

Under last year's Court Act, penalties can also be increased if offenders fail to pay up on time, while those who pay earlier can get reductions.

But offenders who are genuinely unable to pay the fine can be made to do unpaid work in the community as an alternative punishment.

A spokesman for Lord Falconer, the Cabinet minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs, had warned: "Too many fines are not paid.

"The authority of the courts must be enforced.

"Fine enforcement is a priority. The DCA's job is now, actively, to ensure the courts are effective in fighting crime."

The average proportion of fines collected across England and Wales in 2003/4 was 74 per cent, rising to 76 per cent in the first three months of this year.

Updated: 10:47 Tuesday, June 01, 2004