Criminals in Lincolnshire owe nearly £6m in court fines, according to new figures.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the amount of uncollected court fines in the county has risen from £5.85m in March 2006 to £5.86 in March 2007.
The increase comes despite a high profile Government campaign to improve performance.
In January 2005, around 20,000 county criminals owed more than £4.2m in unpaid court fines and Lincolnshire Magistrates' Court Service said the debt was rising each year.
In 2003, the county's 10 courts were owed £3.49m and in 2002 they were owed £3.42m.
The Ministry of Justice data shows that nationally £486m in fines was outstanding at the end of March this year in England and Wales - up £12m on the previous year.
However, the figure did not necessarily indicate the whole sum was in arrears because it included all sums owed to the courts.
Ministers have mounted a series of initiatives to increase the amount of money which is taken from criminals who have been fined, but it has been claimed they have not gone far enough.
In January, an influential committee of MPs led by Gainsborough MP Edward Leigh, said existing arrangements were "ridiculous" and urged ministers to bring in a range of reforms.
The Public Accounts Committee said millions of pounds in fines are not collected each year.
Its report called for "strenuous steps" to improve the collection rate, and raised the prospect of charging interest on unpaid fines or offering discounts to quick payers.
Courts in England and Wales issued fines to the tune of £350m in 2004/05, but the Ministry of Justice does not know how many offenders pay their fines, the committee found.
Research showed only one in 20 paid their fine on the day of sentencing, and half paid within six months.
Blair Gibbs, spokesman for the Taxpayers' Alliance, a national pressure group which campaigns against wasting taxpayers' money, said the amount owed to courts was on the increase because magistrates dish out fines to repeat offenders.
"It is no surprise the amount going unpaid is growing because fines are only suitable for certain types of low-level criminals," he said.
"Taxpayers will now have to pay extra for the Government to try and recover this money from criminals."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the Government would continue to look at ways to improve collection.
"The customs service-led National Enforcement Service began its national roll-out in April," she said.
"The enforcement service will improve data sharing and co-operation between agencies to tackle hardcore defaulters and will focus on more effective enforcement and therefore compliance."
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