Motorists are bearing the brunt of local authorities setting targets for parking penalties, according to a recent investigation launched by consumer watchdog Which? magazine.

On the matter of parking penalty charges, the Department of Transport guidance to local authorities is clear: “Parking charges are a tool to manage demand for road use and should not be used as a revenue raising measure. Local authorities are expected to comply with our guidance and are accountable to their electorates, auditor and the courts.”

But councils are blatantly disregarding this and going to the opposite extreme of actually setting targets in what is obviously a revenue-generating practice. And in the absence of any regulation of the private parking industry, they are getting away with it – and unsuspecting drivers are paying the price.

While only six of the 95 local authorities questioned by Which? admitted they “expected” a certain number of tickets to be issued to drivers, it is fair to assume that the practice is widespread among local councils (the six are Basildon, Bromley, Carmarthenshire, Lewisham, Richmond upon Thames and Shropshire).

Lewisham is the worst offender, with a quota of 78,400 fixed penalty notices to be issued each year – six times as many as 12,500 in Carmanthenshire in Wales. Bromley was next, with the target of 65,000 penalty charge notices each year – almost three times more than in all of Shropshire.

A full two-thirds of councils are also breaking the rules by not allowing the 50% prompt payment discount if a motorist loses an appeal against a parking ticket. This utterly unscrupulous practice could keep a driver from appealing if they think they have been unfairly ticketed.

To make matters worse for drivers, parking signs in private parking areas are often unclear or obscured. In its investigation, Which? found that in private car parks in a typical urban area, warning signs were often hidden from view or had out-of-date or illegible phone numbers, leaving drivers unsure of their rights and open to huge fines and clamping. The fines ranged from £100 to a massive £360.

In light of its findings, Which? has called for proper regulation of the parking industry, including a standardised code of practice for private parking firms as well as an independent appeal process.

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