Hamilton West School parent Cat O'Brien arrives 50 minutes before the school's bell-time so she can secure a pick-up spot for nine-year-old son Joel.

Hamilton parents vying for prime spots outside their child's school gate are being hit in the wallet, as city wardens dish out hundreds of dollars worth of fines each week for illegal parking.

City council records obtained by Stuff show almost 430 parking tickets were issued outside Hamilton schools during the past financial year - a three-fold increase on previous years.

Council staff say the ticketing upsurge is part of a push to make the streets outside schools safe but frustrated parents argue the crackdown is a blatant revenue-gathering exercise.

In 2014/15 the council collected $22,110 in parking fines outside schools, compared with $6520 in 2013/14.

Offences ranged from parking on or near pedestrian crossings, double parking, stopping on footpaths or grass verges, and blocking clearways.

Individual fines vary between $40 to $60, although parking in a disabled car space carries a $150 fine.

One Hamilton West School parent, who declined to be named, said he was fined $40 in June for allegedly parking on the footpath along Fow St.

The man said he remained in his vehicle and made sure the car did not stop, but still copped a fine.

"My car was in motion the whole time as I waited for parents ahead of me but a parking warden took down my registration number and mailed me the ticket claiming I had stopped on the footpath," he said.

"Hamilton West parents are great at making sure mums and dads with young kids get to park as close to the pull-in bay as possible and by 3.07pm most of us have collected our kids and have gone. For some reason the council has made it into a major issue. One day I counted up to seven wardens giving out tickets."

The parent raised his concerns with the school in the hope staff would advocate on behalf of parents.

More than 80 tickets were issued outside the school in 2014/15, the highest number in the city, although council records note some of those tickets may have been issued to motorists visiting nearby Waikato Hospital.

"The council just needs to use a bit of common sense and use more discretion. When you see a big bunch of wardens outside the school you do have to wonder what sort of message that sends people. I can't imagine how much revenue they collect some days," the man said.

Hamilton West School principal Mark Penman declined to discuss the parking situation outside his school, instead asking that media questions be emailed to him.

Penman did not provide a response in time for publication.

In 2012 a warden was punched in the face by a mother outside Hamilton West School after he asked her to move her vehicle.

Hamilton West School parent, Cat O'Brien, said she arrived 50 minutes before the afternoon bell-time to secure a park near the school.

Her children had been attending the school for the past 10 years and in that time the parking situation had got worse.

"I know the school and the council are working hard to improve things but it has got more congested. I think it's due to a number of factors, like less children walking to school, changes to parking zones and an increase in the school roll. We're also the only school that's next door to a hospital," O'Brien said.

Robyn Denton, council's acting city transport unit manager, said parking wardens' main aim was to create a safe environment for children entering and leaving school.

Schools were supportive of the measures taken by wardens, with some schools requesting visits by parking wardens, Denton said.

Wardens' initial focus was educating parents who parked illegally before resorting to ticketing.

"At the beginning of the school year in 2015, the parking wardens and our school travel co-ordinator reviewed the information from the 2014 programme and determined this year's schedule of schools to visit, which included several more schools," Denton said.

"The increase in fines over the last year reflects the increased focus on improving safety around schools, working closely with the schools and police to improve driver behaviour at the school gates."

Illegal parking around schools was a "perennial issue" and the council was working with schools on new initiatives.

Murray McDonald, principal of Hamilton's Aberdeen School said police and the council's school travel co-ordinator Sarah Roberts were "superb" at helping create a safe road environment outside the school.

The majority of parents acted responsibly but there were some who chose to park illegally outside the school, he said.

"At the end of the day it's not our job to act as policemen and we do get tired of getting abused. I believe safety has improved outside the school but more work is needed.

"In each newsletter I write a piece on road safety because things will only get safer if we get through to parents," McDonald said.

Council records show that since 1990 the number of children biking to school has plummeted by about 75 per cent.

Parking concerns have already been raised by parents of children due to start Rototuna Junior High School in February next year.

Some fear North City Road could become a bottle-neck as parents ferry their children to and from school.