Motorists easy prey for car park sharks

News that a private car parking operator has been suspended by DVLA for “data misuse” will come as little surprise to those who have been forced to defend themselves against predatory ticketing firms.

UK Parking Control, which has a retail park in Dundee among its portfolio of 2,000 properties, has been caught falsifying time stamps on tickets.

Wardens have altered times on tickets to fine drivers who have parked legally. Bizarrely, the firm brands this practice a “loophole”, rather than the brazen criminality it implies.

Many of those “caught” will have endured the stress and expense of fighting relentless demands for payment.

DVLA has acted correctly in refusing to cooperate with UKPC until the matter is resolved.

But questions remain over why the government agency is feeding these firms information in the first place.

The relatively unregulated private parking system leaves the public at the mercy of sharks, operating without scruples in the pursuit of easy profit.

Those caught up in the feeding frenzy are left with the option of paying exorbitant charges or risking court action.

Too many private parking firms know the former is likely to be the outcome, no matter how solid the motorist’s defence.

It must be hoped this is the start of a crackdown which will fish out offending firms and end the private parking menace for good.