48,000 UK drivers ‘face £100 charge’ every day | Tech News

Motorists throughout Britain are receiving an average of almost 48,000 parking fines every day from non-public companies, new information reveals. Between April and December final 12 months, parking management corporations issued 13.1 million tickets, in response to Press Association evaluation of Government statistics.

This marks a 19% increase from 11.0 million during the equal period the earlier 12 months, equating to an average of 47,749 every day. The RAC Foundation, a motoring analysis charity, recommended the figures point out “something is awry with the system”.

Individual tickets can attain £100, that means the collective every day value to motorists may method almost £4.8 million at current charges. Private parking operators have confronted accusations of using deceptive and ambiguous signage, aggressive debt restoration ways and disproportionate expenses. Numerous drivers have obtained tickets they preserve are unjust because of how sure cost machines operate.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding stated: “With fuel prices through the roof, the last thing anyone wants to receive is a parking charge notice. While there will always be some drivers who choose to disregard legitimate rules and regulations, you have to ask whether such vast numbers of people are purposefully setting out to run up big bills or whether something is awry with the system.”

A Bill to allow the introduction of a code of apply for the industry obtained royal assent in March 2019. This code, scheduled to take impact throughout Britain by the top of 2023, included halving the cap on tickets for many parking offences to £50, establishing a fairer appeals course of, and banning the use of aggressive language on tickets.

However, it was withdrawn by the Conservative authorities in June 2022 following a legal problem from parking companies. A contemporary session on the code by the present Labour Government concluded in September 2025.

Mr Gooding stated: “Successive ministers have accepted the need for a new private parking framework to provide better, clearer protections for drivers and landowners, but progress has been painfully slow. Perhaps the additional cost-of-living pressure from sky-high fuel prices will be the prompt needed to get the much-needed regulatory framework in place.”

The average value of a litre of petrol and diesel at UK forecourts has risen by 26p and 49p respectively for the reason that outbreak of battle within the Middle East on February 28.

The examination of parking tickets was based mostly on the amount of data obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by companies pursuing UK vehicle homeowners for alleged breaches in non-public car parks, akin to at procuring centres, leisure amenities and motorway service areas. They don’t embrace council-operated car parks. A complete of 195 parking management companies requested vehicle proprietor data during the ultimate quarter of final 12 months, with ParkingEye proving essentially the most prolific, buying 619,000 data.

The DVLA levies a charge of £2.50 per report to non-public corporations, with the company sustaining that its charges merely cowl the associated fee of supplying the knowledge, and that no revenue is constructed from the method.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson stated: “Motorists must be protected when using private car parks and we are determined to drive up standards in the industry. That’s why we plan to introduce a code of practice to Parliament this autumn to help fix the problems drivers are facing.”

Isaac Occhipinti, head of exterior affairs at industry physique the British Parking Association, stated: “Statistics show that the overwhelming majority of motorists follow the rules and pay their way. Effective parking management is essential to keeping towns and cities moving and ensuring people can access shops, hospitals, transport hubs and other vital services safely and conveniently.

“We proceed to be on the facet of first rate drivers. Parking management exists to guard them and be certain that everybody can park the place and after they need to.”