PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS HIT RECORD HIGH

British drivers have been hit with a major rise in the number of tickets handed out by private parking firms.

RAC Foundation analysis of government data has revealed that an additional 2.05 million tickets were issued last year compared with 2017/18.

That represents a 20 per cent annual increase and means private enforcement companies are making up to £680m a year from UK drivers.

The motoring body examined the number of times private firms requested vehicle keeper details from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Almost all such requests are made to allow them to issue fines for motorists parking on private land such as supermarket or shopping centre car parks.

In total. 6.8m such requests were made in the 2018/19 financial year, up from 5.65m in the previous 12 months and an all-time record. That is equivalent to private firms issuing a penalty notice every five seconds - or 18,653 a day.

With each penalty reaching up to £100 that means a £680m payday for car park operators.

In the last 13 years more than 33m vehicle keeper records have been obtained by parking firms from the DVLA, with more than half of them in the past three years alone.

The RAC Foundation’s Steve Gooding said the figures showed the need for “a single, tighter code of practice, a single, consistent appeals body, and strict audit of parking companies’ compliance.”