MPs back laws to clamp rogue parking firms
AN MP has revealed he received a notice from a parking company accusing him of an alleged offence seven years ago.
Cheltenham Tory MP Alex Chalk said he was told he had allegedly parked illegally in Kent in 2011.
He made the revelation as he spoke to back a new Parliamentary Bill to curtail the activities of rogue private parking firms.
“Seven years after the event, a parking company wrote to me to suggest that my car – which has long since been sold on – had been wrongly parked in Kent,” he said.
“I know that this is covered by contract law and that the notification was way out of time – even if the underlying suggestion is correct.
“However, the truth is I could not remember.
“Such an episode would be upsetting for people who did not have that knowledge of the law and do not realise that such a demand was time-barred.”
A Bill to tackle unfair parking tickets issued by private parking companies has been passed in the Commons.
It is going to the House of Lords after a debate tomorrow. Mr Chalk said it should become law next year.
The Bill enforces a code of conduct for private car park operators, caps charges at £100 and brings in a compulsory 10-minute grace period.
It will also give drivers an easier process to appeal tickets through a new independent appeals service.
Mr Chalk also told of a constituent whose car was wrongly ticketed by a private parking company for parking on his own property. The company did not check land ownership details with the Land Registry.
“It’s time to stop rogue private parking firms exploiting the system,” Mr Chalk said. “Too often their behaviour is threatening and abuses the system.
“When someone is faced with what looks like an official letter demanding considerable sums of money, they can become enormously distressed.
“Little wonder that some of these companies have been described as modern day pirates.”