Five-minute parking rule could be scrapped by end of the month – here’s why

Drivers could soon have more than five minutes to pay for car parking following a shake-up.

Currently, private car parks offer motorists five minutes to pay for their parking before they are at risk of being penalised.

But the rule is to be reviewed after body-builder and makeup artist Rosey Hudson was fined £1,906 by a private firm in Derby for regularly taking longer to buy her ticket.

She refused to pay the fine, saying there was no ticket machine at the car park and poor signal meant she had to walk further away to buy her ticket via an app on her phone.

Ms Hudson was summoned to court, but eventually the fine was withdrawn.

The British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC) have now said a new panel will revise their private parking code of conduct – which was introduced last year -to ensure it ‘protects genuine motorists who have difficulty making prompt payment on entry’.

They also said the panel will ‘fast-track updates to the code to reflect technological advancements’.

It’s hoped the five minute rule will be relaxed by as early as February 1.

The panel will then conduct a full review of the code of conduct.

It comes after private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fines.

And in November it emerged that an average of 41,000 parking tickets are being issued a day by firms.

Some 3.8 million tickets were handed out between July and September 2024, according to analysis of Government data by the PA news agency and motoring research charity the RAC Foundation.

Each ticket can be up to £100, meaning the total cost to drivers may be near £4.1 million per day.

A Bill to enable the introduction of a Government-backed code of practice for private parking companies received royal assent under the Conservative government in March 2019.

It was withdrawn in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.

This code 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.

The BPA and IPC published then published their own code of practice in June.

IPC chief executive Will Hurley said: ‘The creation of the panel shows the commitment the industry has to improving the reputation of our sector.

‘We must not forget the valuable service we provide to ensure the vast majority of people can park when and where they need to.’

BPA chief executive Andrew Pester said: ‘We want to demonstrate that not only are we serious about raising standards but also making decisive changes to the code when issues arise.’

In relation to the five-minute rule, the organisations stressed that ‘many car parks … are pay on entry’, and it is important drivers ‘read signage and follow instructions’.

RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: ‘The fact that the private parking industry is already having to review its own code, just months after it was introduced, shows it’s not working in drivers’ interests.

‘This is yet another reason why the launch of the long-overdue official Private Parking Code of Practice, that became law five years ago, is very much needed.

‘We fear that without this, drivers who use private car parks will continue to be worse off.’

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