Parking wardens to be forced to give drivers 10-minute grace period before slapping fines under Government plans

PARKING wardens are to be forced to give drivers a 10-minute grace period before slapping fines under a Government plan.

The change will help crack down on aggressive debt collection carried out by rogue car parks in England, Scotland and Wales.

AA president Edmund King welcomed the 10-minute grace period for drivers parking on private land.

He added: "All too often drivers are caught out on camera or automatic number plate recognition for stopping to check a map or satnav without actually parking.

"We know that many of the banned cowboy clampers have turned into private parking outlaws so it is high time that they are being better regulated."

The Press Association reports that private car park operators would be forced to give drivers up to a 10-minute grace period after their tickets expire before fining them.

Companies are handing out unjust fines and putting drivers through baffling appeals processes.

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick also wants new, beefed-up rules to stamp out aggressive debt collection carried at rogue car parks across England, Scotland and Wales.

He announced today that he has ordered the British Standards Institution to draw up a compulsory code of practice for the industry.

Mr Jenrick said: "For too long rogue parking firms have operated in an unregulated industry."

He said these companies have been "handing out unjust fines, putting drivers through baffling appeals processes and issuing tickets to motorists who were only seconds late back to their cars.

"That's why we've appointed the BSI to work with consumer groups and industry to write the first compulsory code of practice for private parking firms."

"HARASSING DRIVERS"

Jenrick added that "the new code will encourage people back onto our high-streets and crack-down on dodgy operators who use aggressive tactics to harass drivers."

If approved by the institution, it would bring private facilities in line with council car parks, which have imposed a 10-minute grace period in England since 2015.

Currently any grace period for private car parks is under a voluntary code set by the industry.

But the suggested compulsory guidelines would see firms who fall foul of the law stripped of the ability to request DVLA data, putting up a barrier for them to pursue motorists for charges.

It was widely reported that the Parking (Code of Practice) Act introduced this year would include a 10-minute grace period.

But that failed to be enshrined in law, government officials confirmed.

The Sun recently reported that private parking firms are milking the system, and are set to issue a whopping 8.6million tickets in 2019/20 - almost two million more than last year.

One mum reported being hit with a £100 fine after stopping for just two minutes to buy food at the East Midlands Airport petrol station.

Louise Stevens accused the BP station of "daylight robbery".