Teignbridge MP demands action over ‘outrageous’ parking firms

Fresh calls have been made to regulate rogue private parking firms that levy heavy fines and bombard motorists with ‘threatogram’ intimidating letters.

A parliamentary debate heard of cases where cowboy firms even install equipment in their car parks that is designed to fail and prevent drivers from paying to park.
Now MPs are calling for an independent regulator and a tough new code of practice.
The debate was jointly led by Newton Abbot Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley and the Labour MP for Derby South, Baggy Shanker.
Mr Wrigley said he had spoken to a ‘whistleblower’ who used to work for a private parking company, and had heard a number of complaints from people in Newton Abbot.
“They have created a culture of “charge first, think second” and their default position is to refuse appeals,” he said. “They also use equipment that is designed to be awkward or even to fail, such as machines that will not take cash or card payments, and then they deny appeals, arguing that drivers could have paid by app.
“Other tactics include deliberately targeting people who do not respond to their threatening letters, which are often issued with the wrong address or similar, and selecting them for court action.
“There is also a constant use of trumped-up bailiff charges, many times the price of a normal parking fine.”
He said an elderly driver in his constituency – a woman called Norma – received a penalty charge notice for £100 after forgetting to display her blue badge. It was only when the MP intervened that she was offered the discount rate she was entitled to.
Mr Wrigley also asked why private parking companies were able to use hidden cameras to film entire streets and houses round the clock when councils or the police would never be allowed to do so.
“We urgently need an independent regulator,” he said. “The public need information on how the camera systems are used and who is recording.
“We need to ensure that the appeal system is working, and that faulty parking machines are rapidly fixed. We need a cap on the maximum penalty charge that can be issued for contraventions.
“We need a proportionate and responsible debt recovery process for operators to use for non-payments, and we need responsible behaviour and transparency from the companies operating in this area.”
Mr Wrigley said indiscriminate wheel clamping and towing on private land had been banned in 2010 after being described as a licence to print money due to the firms’ rogue conduct.
But, he said: “Rather than the private parking lobby and finance world learning its lesson, it reverted to an industry based on outrageous practices, charges and threatograms.”
Labour MP Alex Norris, the parliamentary under-secretary for housing, communities and local government, said the government would take action to protect motorists and drive up standards in the private parking industry.
“We want to get it right this time, and we are committed to delivering a code that recognises the importance of this issue to motorists and gets it right for them,” he said.