Motorists could due for payments of “Tens of millions of pounds” for unfair parking fines of more than £100 a time, according to the RAC Foundation.

John de Waal QC, a barrister, has prepared a report for the motoring organisation arguing that private parking companies are levying huge charges on drivers out of all proportion to the losses suffered by the landowners.

Barry Beavis was sent a charge letter from Parking Eye after he overstayed a two-hour limit at Riverside Retail Park car park in Chelmsford in April 2013.  He contested the initial £85 charge and will appeal the charge next week.

There is no definitive figure regarding how many private car parks there are in England and Wales, as not all are operated by the trade associations, but it is thought the number is in the region of 20,000.

There are also no comprehensive turnover figures for the private parking sector but the RAC suggests it is in excess of the £1.43bn a year.

Jo Abbott of the RAC Foundation and co-author of the report said “They have ignored the impact on motorists who have received demands for large amounts in extra parking charges from operators,”.

She added: “Somewhere along the line they failed to foresee the danger of business models arising within the parking industry that might use payments from those who contravene their regulations to do more than merely compensate them for the cost of the transgression.”

via The Guardian

A driver from Lincolnshire has amassed an astonishing £14000 worth of private parking fines.

He has already been served with four county court judgements totalling more than £3,000 by Leeds-based firm UK Car Park Services.

His vehicle, a Ford Mondeo, was often ticketed for being parked across disabled bays.

“Steve Hall, UKCPS legal manager, said:”This is one of the highest parking charge debts to be served on a single motorist in the UK for parking on private land.

“Four of the undefended county court judgements amount to £3,265, with an additional £10,000 still to be issued. The vehicle was often parked across more than one bay. On many occasions, the charges were for parking out of marked bays and without authority.”

“The vehicle dashboard was clearly visible for all passing people to see,scattered with unpaid parking tickets.”

“Staff have reconstructed the relevant section of the pages to discover the parking charge numbers referred back to the vehicle.”

Despite many motorists believing that UKCPS has no powers to enforce the charges, once their contractual warning signs are up and an agreement signed with the landowner or their agent, parking charge notices can be issued.

via Lincolnshire Echo

Local Authorities in London have been accused of ripping off motorists , which comes off the back of recent news about the Government wanting greater leniency to be shown.

The UK’s richest parking authority, Westminster, issued 449,139 tickets,compared to 456,000 last year.

“High Streets minister Penny Mordaunt said:”These new figures show how drivers across London are being routinely ripped off, and parking charges and fines have become a cash machine for councils, particularly due to the industrial use of CCTV spy cars.

“Such unfair practices are harming local shops and have just driven people to shop on the internet or in out-of-town shopping centres. This is why the Government is taking action to clamp down on these parking stealth taxes,and is standing up for local shoppers and high streets.”

There were 3,087,186 tickets for high-level offences such as parking on double yellow lines, stopping at a bus stop or pedestrian crossings or double parking.

Lesser offences such as overstaying time on a parking meter or not parking within markings of a bay fell to 992,516 tickets.

Paul Pearson, of penaltychargenotice.co.uk, said: “The Government has put a lot of pressure on councils to act reasonably over the last year with some ministers saying that councils are abusing their powers. The Mary Portas report highlighted how parking enforcement and charges harm high streets.”

A spokesman for London councils said: “London’s councils are acting reasonably in enforcing the law. Effective parking and traffic enforcement is essential in protecting the safety of pedestrians and other road users, as wellas reducing congestion and pollution.”

via Evening Standard

Ministers have warned that hospitals will stick “Two fingers up” at the new rules which try to stop excessive “Tax on the sick” parking charges.

Relatives of gravely ill patients, patients with disabilities, those with frequent appointments and staff working shifts must be given free or cheap parking under new Department of Health guidelines issued to English hospitals.

Birkenhead MP Frank Field said “I very much hope that when the Minister replies he will say what plan B is for those hospitals that continue to charge excessively those who need to continue to visit their relatives in hospital.”

Some ministers went even further and called for abolition of hospital parking charges in England and branded them a “Tax on NHS treatment“.

“Telford MP David Wright added:”I believe that hospital parking charges should be abolished.

Some people have expressed the concern that people will overflow park in hospital parking areas.

“Tickets could still be issued to ensure that parking spaces are controlled, but it could be made free. The House should push the Government and the Opposition to make a commitment to abolish parking charges at hospitals in the medium to long term.”

via Autoexpress

Politics.co.uk have revealed that Transport for London splashed out hundreds of thousands of pounds on parking fines incurred by their own employees.

TfL, which is chaired by London mayor Boris Johnson, justified the figures by saying they were received by employees conducting important work.

“These fines are not only a serious waste of money by TfL but they also show that too many TfL staff believe in the mantra of do as I say, not as I do when it comes to traffic enforcement,” Liberal Democrat London assembly member Caroline Pidgeon said today.

“Transport for London has no hesitation in handing out penalty charge notices for people who park on red routes or who get caught in yellow boxes…”

TfL is frequently accused by motorists and businesses of being too aggressive in enforcing parking restrictions.

“The majority of Penalty Charge & Enforcement Notices were issued to TfL vehicles parked outside stations and in bus lanes while staff members carried out work” they said.

“TfL has been working to reduce the number of parking fines received and the number has halved in recent years. However, at times it is necessary to park vehicles in restricted areas in order to carry out urgent works.”

New laws to crack down on drivers who abuse disabled parking have been passed by the Scottish Parliament.

The legislation aims to deal with the hundreds of drivers said to be misusing blue badges, by giving councils powers to confiscate and cancel them.

The Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges Bill was brought forward by SNP MSP Dennis Robertson, who is blind. He said abuse of the system was a growing problem and had become “Unacceptable”.

There are 245,000 legitimate blue badge holders in Scotland, and Holyrood’s local government committee said misuse of the blue badge scheme was having a “Major impact” on the lives of people who rely on disabled parking spaces.

Research by agency Transport Scotland said 83% of legitimate badge holders had encountered misuse.

Misuse of a blue badge is already an offence, but enforcement powers currently lie with the police.