Britain’s drivers were handed a record 14.4 million parking tickets by private companies in 2024/25, figures show.
Motoring groups said the analysis of official data by the PA news agency demonstrates the “urgent” need for the Government to reintroduce a code of practice for the sector.
The daily rate that tickets were issued by private companies in the year to the end of March was 39,374.
The total over the period was up 13% compared with the 12.8 million during the previous year, and more than double the 6.8 million in 2018/2019.
Parking industry bodies have insisted the rising number of tickets issued is simply a result of the increase in the amount of car parks being privately managed, but motoring organisations dispute this claim.
Each ticket can be up to £100, meaning the total daily cost to drivers may be near £3.9 million at the current rate.
Private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees.
It emerged in April that many drivers are being sent tickets they claim are unfair because of how some payment machines operate, with one campaigner claiming the devices are “set up to trap people”.
Some machines which require users to input their vehicle registration accept payment after only one letter being entered.
This has led to multiple cases of drivers paying the required parking fee but still being sent a parking charge notice when their vehicle was detected by automatic number platerecognition (ANPR) cameras.
A Bill to enable the introduction of a legislation-backed code of conduct received royal assent in March 2019.
This code – scheduled 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But it was withdrawn by the Conservative government in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: “Business is clearly booming for private parking firms.
“Frankly it is now more urgent than ever that this Government puts years and years of false starts behind it and gets on with implementing both a code of practice and an independent appeals service.
“Only then are we likely to see the number of tickets starting to fall, which must be the success measure we’d all like to see.”
Simon Williams, head of policy at automotive services company the RAC, said: “Too many unfair tickets are still being handed out by operators who haven’t been forced to adhere to stricter rules, and too many drivers are still being hounded by debt collection companies.
“We don’t believe the parking industry’s argument that PCNs are only at record levels purely because they’re managing more car parks.
“We urge the Government to ensure the official code is launched this year with all the protection it was intended to have so that we don’t see these figures go even higher.”
Industry bodies the British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community published their own code of practice in June 2024.
It included requirements for consistent signage, a single set of rules for operators on private land and an “appeals charter”.
Motoring groups criticised it for not including features such as a cap on charges or the removal of debt recovery fees.
PA’s 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.
Council-run car parks are not included.
Some 184 parking management businesses requested vehicle owner records in 2024/25.
ParkingEye was the most active, buying 2.3 million records.
The DVLA, which charges companies £2.50 per record, says the fee is set to recover the cost of providing the information, and it does not make money from the process.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Motorists must be protected when using private car parks and we are determined to drive up standards in the industry.
“We know how much of an issue this is for drivers, which is why we will set out further details on the private parking code of practice as soon as possible.”
A BPA spokesperson said: “With over 41 million vehicles on the road and more than 40 million parking events occurring daily, the data consistently shows that only around 0.3% of private land parking events result in a parking charge.
“The increase in the number of parking charges is also strongly linked to the increase in new managed car parks.
“Despite the RAC disputing this they have never provided any evidence to counter this.
“In 2024, we introduced a new single code of practice to bring greater clarity and consistency to private parking rules.
“We strongly encourage any motorist who believes they’ve received a charge in error to use the official appeals process.”
