Auckland Transport: Fined while you were sleeping...

Auckland's night wardens caused widespread outrage last month, issuing 27 tickets in a single 2am parking blitz. Photo / Michael Craig

Auckland Transport issued 12,000 parking fines in the last year in the early hours - that's 33 every night while you were sleeping.

And the night patrol has scooped close to $1 million with tickets issued between midnight and 6am.

Victims who have woken up to $40 fines on their windscreens have slammed the practice.

"It's revenue-gathering. It's really that simple," said Michelle Konik, whose son was ticketed in a 2am blitz in Tautari St, Orakei.

Auckland Transport employs a dedicated night team.

Figures obtained by the Herald on Sunday show 12,028 tickets were issued in greater Auckland between midnight and 6am from August 2014-2015.

The combined fines were worth $914,724 to council coffers.

The figures also show the council-controlled organisation has budgeted revenue of $31.9m this financial year from parking fines.

That revenue target equates to a basic $40 parking fine being issued 797,500 times - or 2184 tickets a day.

Ten full-time staff are working graveyard shifts from 7pm-3am before an early morning unit takes over.

In comparison, Christchurch City Council does not have any staff on duty overnight and Wellington City Council confirmed one warden is on call after 11pm.

Auckland's night wardens caused widespread outrage last month, issuing 27 tickets in a single 2am parking blitz.

The $40 fines were issued to cars on Tautari and Apihai Sts in Orakei, where locals say the road is so narrow they park their cars with two wheels on the kerb out of "common sense", so not to block traffic or emergency services.

Council eventually backed down and wiped all 27 tickets after widespread backlash - but the Herald on Sunday has learned at least one of those residents had already paid a previous ticket issued for the same reason.

Both that resident and others affected slammed the latest news on the night wardens, saying the "revenue-gathering" system should be scrapped in favour of pouring resources into tackling bigger problems, such as housing and traffic.

Michael O'Brien and Patricia Minkhorst have lived on Tautari St for 23 years but say the overnight ticketing is a recent development.

They have received three infringement notices in a year, two of which have been waived.

"There needs to be some consistency and common sense applied. A lot of people around here are very annoyed," O'Brien said.

An AT spokesman denied the night-ticketing was revenue gathering, saying the amount raised was only three per cent of the budgeted annual enforcement revenue.

That budget had dropped every year since 2012 - by a total of $9.2m - and it wasn't about having people scour the streets looking for cash.

"This midnight to 6am period is where the team is primarily responding to illegal activity within the central city such as parking on yellow lines, double parking and blocking entrances.

"They also go to customer complaints such as parking over driveways," they said.

Mayor Len Brown said late-night tickets were "generally the result of complaints from residents and ratepayers" and with AT lowering revenue targets over recent years, it was "difficult to argue" the night wardens were for revenue gathering.

The 12,000 night tickets covered 15 different offences, including cars parked facing the wrong direction, expired warrants of fitness and outdated car registration.