- More than 3.3m parking tickets handed out between July and September
- As each ticket can be up to £100, this could cost drivers more than £3.6m a day
Motorists are being hit with nearly 36,000 parking tickets a day by private companies, figures show.
More than 3.3million tickets were handed out between July and September, according to analysis by the PA news agency and the RAC Foundation.
The figure is up 16 per cent from 2.9million during the same period last year – and represents a record daily average of 35,960. Each ticket can be up to £100, meaning the total cost to drivers may be nearly £3.6million per day.
Private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees.
A long-awaited code of practice aimed at eradicating some of the sector’s worst behaviour was due to be introduced after legislation was passed in Parliament in March 2019.
Motorists are being hit with nearly 36,000 parking tickets a day by private companies, figures show (Stock Image)
The code – laid before Parliament in February 2022 and due to come into force by the end of 2023 – stated some caps should be halved to £50.
It was withdrawn by the Government in June 2022 following a legal challenge by parking firms.
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: ‘We will all be hoping for good things in 2024 but perhaps those most looking forward to a happy new year are the large band of parking companies operating on private land.
‘In March it will be five years since a law was enacted to…better regulate the private parking sector, yet even now we don’t know when these will be introduced.
‘This glacial pace has been a source of immense frustration to the millions of drivers heavily penalised for supposed infringements in private car parks and to all the MPs who, at the time the legislation was being debated, were queuing up to recount to Parliament the parking horror stories reported by constituents.’
More than 3.3million tickets were handed out between July and September, according to analysis by the PA news agency and the RAC Foundation (Stock Image)
A call for evidence on the code of practice run by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) ended on October 8.
A spokesman for the British Parking Association, which represents car park operators, said: ‘Enforcement is a key element of effective parking management, meaning that careless and selfish drivers don’t block spaces, park in blue badge zones or cause a nuisance to motorists that park with due care and attention.’
The analysis was based on the number of records bought by firms from the DVLA to enable them to chase drivers, at £2.50 a time. The agency says its fees are to cover costs rather than generate profit.
Some 178 firms requested records in the three months to the end of September. ParkingEye topped the list, with 573,000 records. The DLUHC was approached for a comment.
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