New parking warden rules in England and they are 'desperately needed'

Drivers face new parking warden rules in England. But there are fears the new restrictions and rules for parking wardens in the country are actually 'watered down' and even 'fall well short' of original promises made to road users, motorists and drivers.

Experts said the new Parking Code 'falls miles short of what drivers have been promised'. The RAC warned that drivers “shouldn’t be fooled” into thinking that the Code is the same as official legislation after it was first announced by the British Parking Association and the International Parking Community a few months ago.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “This self-authored ‘Code’ doesn’t acknowledge the need to cap charges and 'remove debt recovery fees'. These elements are desperately needed from a Government-backed Code to protect innocent drivers from the sharks running private car parks.”

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Louise Thomas, motor expert at Confused.com, explained that the new Code of Practice aims to make rules around fixed penalty charges fairer for drivers. Ms Thomas added that the planned changes should bring "positive changes" through reduced fees and a more relaxed appeals system.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said that despite its objections the group accepts that some of the measures being introduced are an improvement on the status quo. He added: “We sincerely hope the official Government code will finally come into force later this year, five years after it became law.

“What operators will now be expected to do falls miles short of what drivers have been promised by the Government.” The new code introduces an Appeals Charter, creating clear parameters for motorists to appeal against a parking charge, and also mandates a 10-minute grace period for motorists.

Mr Williams said: “This, and only this, will bring an end to the worst practices of some private parking operators and mean drivers, and especially those who are vulnerable, are protected from unreasonable fines and debt collectors chasing down payments.

“We accept that some of the measures being introduced by the parking industry are an improvement on the status quo which, we have long argued, is totally unacceptable."