One in three motorists is caught by a speed camera or parking warden every year, it has been revealed.
The official figures have given rise to allegations that drivers are now simply being used as cash cows by the Government.
Cameras and council staff snared 9.8million drivers in 2006 – the equivalent of one in three – and the collective fines are said to be worth £800million.
Most offences (7.8million) were logged by local wardens and included waiting and parking offences, as well as fines for obstructions or leaving a tyre on a kerb.
Three million fixed-penalty offences were also dished out – mostly for speeding.
Two thirds of those were caught on cameras.
David Ruffley, Tory police spokesman, said: 'The numbers of drivers being nicked by cameras has risen by a colossal 615 per cent in ten years, from 323,200 in 1997 to 1,986,200 in 2006.
‘This is another staggering statistic that tells us a lot about the surveillance society.’
The figures were released in the annual Ministry of Justice Motoring Offences and Breath Test Bulletin.
The papers show that the overall chance of getting trapped by the authorities has spiralled.