Record 17m parking tickets handed to UK drivers by private firms in just one year

Private companies issued 17 per cent more parking tickets to UK drivers over the past year, newly published figures show.

The sharp rise comes as the delay in implementing a legally backed code of conduct for the sector reached seven years.

An unprecedented 16.9 million tickets were issued by private firms in the year to the end of March, according to an analysis of government data by the Press Association and motoring research charity the RAC Foundation.

That represents an increase from 14.4 million a year earlier, and 6.8 million recorded in 2018/19.

The parking sector has attributed this expansion to a higher number of car parks coming under active management.

With individual penalties reaching up to £100, the total daily cost to drivers could exceed £4.6 million at current rates.

Private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees.

Many drivers have been sent tickets they claim are unfair because of the way some payment machines operate.

A Bill to enable the introduction of a code of practice for the industry received royal assent in March 2019.

This code, due to come into force across Britain by the end of 2023, included halving the cap on tickets for most parking offences to £50, creating a fairer appeals system, and banning the use of aggressive language on tickets.

But it was withdrawn by the Conservative government in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.

A new consultation on the code by the current Labour government closed in September 2025.

The analysis of parking tickets was based on the number of records obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by companies chasing vehicle owners for alleged infringements in private car parks, such as at shopping centres, leisure facilities and motorway service areas.

They do not include council-run car parks.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “In the period since parliament unequivocally recognised the need for reform of the private parking industry, some 76 million tickets have been issued in total – an average of well over two for every car in the country.

“Andy Burnham has plenty of big things to worry about, but if his government could get round to fixing this problem, millions of drivers would have one less thing on their minds.”

Some 204 parking management businesses requested vehicle owner records in 2025/26.

ParkingEye was the most active, buying 2.5 million records.

Private companies are charged £2.50 per record by the DVLA.

The agency says its fees recover the cost of providing the information and it does not make any money from the process.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was approached for a comment.