Number of parking tickets issued increases by one million in 12 months

A parking ticket is being issued every six seconds in the UK, according to research by a leading motoring charity.

The RAC foundation says the number of penalty notices being issued increased by almost one million in just 12 months.

It said analysis of Government data showed that 5.65 million vehicle keeper records were bought by parking management firms from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in the last financial year.

Those personal details, which cost £2.50 each were then used by companies to chase vehicle owners for alleged
infringements in private car parks, sending penalty charges of up to £100.

ParkingEye Ltd obtained the largest amount of data in 2017/18 at 1.8 million records.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: "Each year we are not only astonished by the numbers involved, but also by the fact that those numbers keep rocketing up.

"The true volume of tickets being issued might actually be significantly higher still as some firms will simply slap a demand on to a windscreen for the driver to find when they return to their vehicle.

"What's going wrong? Are Britain's motorists really flouting the rules on such an industrial scale?"

A private member's bill from former minister Sir Greg Knight, which would lead to the introduction of a code of conduct for private car park operators, has already had its second reading and is being backed by the Government.

Communities minister Rishi Sunak said: "We've promised we'd put a stop to cowboy operators ripping off drivers and, through the Parking Bill, we'll do just that.

"Whilst many operators abide by the rules, dodgy firms have been pulling a fast one at motorists' expense for too long.

"We'll halt aggressive letters, small signs and unfair fines. If they don't toe the line, we'll put them out of business."