Black Country MP tells private parking firms to 'clean up their act' over fines

John Spellar MP said the issue of motorists getting fined for visiting the same parking space twice in a short period of time was a "growing problem" in parts of the Black Country.

He said he had held talks with trade body the British Parking Association (BPA) over a series of incidents in Sandwell – including a constituent who was fined for parking on a private car park while she worked overnight at a hospital.

The Warley MP suggested the Department for Transport should restrict access to the DVLA register, meaning firms would be unable to administer any parking fines.

It comes after a father-of-one in Gateshead was fined £100 for visiting the same McDonald's branch twice in one day.

Former Transport Minister Mr Spellar, said: "This case is from the North-East but this is a growing problem in Sandwell and I am dealing with several cases, including a constituent who was working the night shift at the hospital and parked there, another going backward and forward to prayers during Eid, and another visiting a supermarket on successive days.

"I have taken these up not only with individual parking companies but with their trade group, the British Parking Association.

"Unless they clean their act up fast the Department for Transport will have to restrict their access to the DVLA register and their business model will be bust. Their choice."

The RAC recently revealed that the Government's private parking code of practice, designed to end some of the worst practices in the private parking sector and protect drivers, had been withdrawn.

Announced in February, it was part of plans to cap private parking fines to £50, down from £100.

British drivers were handed a record 8.6 million parking tickets by private companies in the year to March 2022, up 50 per cent.

The rate of tickets being issued reached an average of 23,000 every day, according to an analysis of DVLA data.