One parking fine issued every four seconds

MOTORISTS have been hit with nearly 10 million private parking fines in one year – a rise of three million – after car park operators switched to cameras that record number plates automatically.

The figure shot up from 6.8 million, yielding £1 billion for the operators. It means that fines were issued at a rate of one every four seconds, an increase the RAC put down to the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition ( ANPR) technology.

Planning applications for ANPR cameras in car parks has soared 61 per cent in just two years, according to data obtained under Freedom of Information laws for Churchill car insurance.

The technology does away with the need for wardens patrolling car parks and enables firms to more easily and readily pursue motorists for fines.

“Even car parks that appear to be f ree, such as supermarket and fast food restaurant car parks, increasingly have t i me l i mits for parking with ANPR cameras capturing drivers’ details. Customers that stay too long are issued with large fines,” said Jane Morgan, of Churchill Insurance. “We are urging drivers to be cautious and to take an extra minute to check for signs displaying information about charges and timings when using any car park.

“It could prevent you from getting caught out and help avoid unexpected expensive fines.”

Of those who were caught, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) said they had been f ined for overstaying their allotted time, according to a survey of 2,000 motorists by pollsters Opinium.

However, 16 per cent said they had not known they needed to pay for parking, thinking it had been free previously.

One in eight motorists got the fine lifted after contesting it, proving that the camera was faulty or there were no parking restriction signs.