FARMINGTON – Police wrote nearly four times the number of parking tickets they usually do over the weekend, after a winter parking ban went into effect last week.

Nearly 80 tickets were written between Friday and Monday, dispatcher Rachel Heseltine said Monday. Usually, she said, “we average around 20 for a weekend.”

The winter parking ordinance is in effect between Nov. 15 and April 15. It prohibits vehicles from parking on streets, public ways, or town-owned or leased parking lots between 12 a.m and 6 a.m.

It was written to help facilitate snow removal in the evening and early morning. Car owners who defy the ban are fined $10, and the town could tow cars that violate the ban.