Park life: the UK’s biggest problem parking areas

Barnet has the most recorded parking violations, retrieving an estimated £48 million from parking fines alone.

On average only 64% of UK parking fines are paid in full.

Research from leading CAR warranty provider Warranty Direct reveals the London Borough of Barnet is the nation’s biggest parking violations offender, racking up over 547,000 parking violations over a two-year period.

Warranty Direct analysed data from 37* local council areas in England to discover which areas had the most and least parking fines. The research comes in the wake of a study back in 2018 which found councils in England have seen their parking fine profits rise 32% in the last 4 years, generating £867 million in total from nation-wide parking fines in 2017-18 alone.

London Boroughs make up 8 of the top 10 offenders:

Top 10 areas by no. parking violations

In first place, Barnet’s most common violation is ‘no waiting’, issued to vehicles parked in a restricted area. The borough totalled 141,149 fines for this contravention. This result suggests the biggest challenge for many London drivers is finding a long-stay parking space, with many forced to park wherever they can, perhaps even without valid authority.

Interestingly, Bristol and Medway are the only areas outside the M25 to feature, taking 9th and 10th spot respectively. Bristol’s ranking could be contributed to North Somerset Council taking over controlled parking enforcement (CPE) from the police in April 2017, which saw figures soar.

Medway’s high number of fines could also be down to several significant council changes. Reports show parking profits in the area have jumped 65% since 2016, which suggests more motorists are trying to find alternative parking.

Warranty Direct research supports this, as it discovered parking in a restricted street was the most common contravention in this area.

South Norfolk is bottom of the list, publishing just 401 recorded violations over the same time period. Only 45% of fines in the area were paid in full, meaning South Norfolk council claimed just a fraction ( £9,050 ) he estimated £48 million retrieved by Barnet council.

South Norfolk shares its most common violation with Barnet (no waiting), however, it only recorded a relatively minor 145 offences.

Bottom 10 areas by no. parking violations

Warranty Directs study also highlights the most common parking offence overall, across all boroughs:

Most common violations

The most frequent offence is parking in a restricted street (11 areas), while parking without a valid permit for a road and parking in a car park without a pay and display ticket are the second and third most common contraventions.

Finally, the study reveals, on average, only 64% of fines across the country were actually paid, with Camden boasting the lowest percentage at just 32%. In contrast, East Riding of Yorkshire paid the most fines, with 84% paid in full.

Notes to editors

Methodology:

Warranty Direct issued an FOI request to UK councils, unitary authorities and county councils asking for information regarding the number of parking fines recorded within their administration areas between 1st August 2016 until 22nd August 2018.

For all councils who provided the full information, the data was analysed to reveal the total number of fines issued within the period, plus the number of fines for each contravention type. Data was also analysed to reveal the total number of fines that have been paid off in full in each area.

All councils that failed to issue a response, provided data with missing sets or provided unusable data were removed, leaving 37 areas in total.

This estimated total was calculated multiplying the total number of fines by the highest possible enforceable fine from each area (for South Norfolk this was 181 paid fines x highest £50 fine = £9,050, whereas in Barnet the calculation was 375,526 paid fines x £130 fine = £48,818,380).

About Warranty Direct

Warranty Direct is the industry's leading provider of direct consumer warranties, specialising in mechanical breakdown insurance for vehicles coming out of the manufacturer's standard 3-Year warranty.

The Warranty Direct Gold policy offers you protection against expensive motor vehicle repair bills by covering the cost of unexpected mechanical and electrical breakdowns. It is a simple and comprehensive policy that should give you peace of mind and value for money. Besides the standard cover for breakdown of electrical and mechanical components in your vehicle, it comes with the following additional benefits:

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