Three men have been charged by Halifax police after city staff discovered hundreds of so-called phantom parking tickets were written and submitted in 2014 and 2015.

Police said Friday that a 22-year-old Dartmouth man and a 21-year-old Eastern Passage man were arrested on Tuesday. A 22-year-old Cole Harbour man was arrested Wednesday.

All three have been charged with breach of trust by a public officer and uttering a forged document.

Police started to investigate in October after the company hired by the city to enforce parking rules in downtown Halifax and Dartmouth, Independent Security Services Atlantic, discovered the bogus tickets.

The company said, through a lawyer, the workers accused in the scheme weren't actually walking to look for violations; instead they were taking time off from work and inventing tickets.

Two employees were let go Oct. 26.

Halifax police said about 2,200 tickets were either fabricated or used invalid licence plates. The tickets were never put on vehicles and were only written on out-of-province or out-of-country vehicles.

Police said it doesn't appear any Nova Scotia licence plates were involved in the scheme and the questionable tickets were written between April 28, 2014 and Oct. 23, 2015.

All three men have been released and ordered to appear in Halifax provincial court March 15.