Drivers to get parking tickets in the post from 'Big Brother' CCTV cameras

12 April 2012

Millions of motorists will receive parking tickets by post after being caught on CCTV camera under rules that have been called "Orwellian".

Drivers spotted by the "Big Brother" cameras also face fines of up to £120 as part of a Government shake-up of parking regulations which comes into effect from Monday, March 31.

Until now, wardens have had to hand a ticket to a driver or leave it on the windscreen.

But now they will also be able to issue the tickets remotely, without the driver knowing about it until they receive the Penalty Charge Notice through their letterbox.

Scroll down for more...

Drivers spotted by CCTV cameras will receive parking fines in the post as part of new government regulations which come into effect next month

There are fears that councils will use the regulations as yet another way to raise money.

Remote CCTV teams will be able to monitor streets to spot drivers who park on a yellow line or overstay at a meter.

The rules also give councils the power to set a sliding scale of fines of up to £120 for different types of parking offence.

Motorists in London face the highest fines, while those outside the capital can receive a maximum fine of £70.

The higher charges will be given to those who commit more serious offences such as parking on a double yellow line on major roads.

Lower fines - up to £80 in London and £50 elsewhere - will be set for those who overstay at a meter or pay-and-display bay.

Transport minister Rosie Winterton said the parking enforcement would be fairer and easier to challenge, and could see fewer tickets issued.

The scheme could also apparently see wheel-clamping used only for persistent offenders.

But motoring groups have condemned it as a "moneyspinning scam". They fear the changes will lead to abuses, including questionable tickets being issued to drivers who were unaware they had committed an offence.

The AA said tickets should be "issued in real time, not extra time".

In a move which the AA calls "Orwellian", uniformed traffic wardens and attendants are to be renamed Civil Enforcement Officers and handed wideranging extra powers.

Councils are expected to follow the example of the London's Westminster which has used CCTV - and even mobile cameras mounted in cars - to film parking transgressors.

Some councils have cameras specifically trained on certain bays and roads. Wardens are also now routinely equipped with cameras to record eviafterdence of illegally-parked cars.

In May, traffic attendants in Salford became the first to trial head-mounted video cameras.

The regulations state that a ticket can be issued by post if "the Civil Enforcement Officer had started to issue the Penalty Charge Notice, but did not have enough time to finish it or serve it before the vehicle was driven away".

AA president Edmund King said: "We believe this could lead to more 'ghost tickets' and ticketing of Blue Badge holders or people delivering or dropping off passengers.

"Enforcement should be about prohibiting obstructive parking, not about postal fines the event.

"Motorists may be unaware that they can get ticketed for parking at a dropped kerb or half a metre from the pavement."

Parking fines have quadrupled in five years to 3.4million a year. But the Government said councils must not use them as a tool for raising revenue, and should not set targets for the number of tickets issued.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "For a Penalty Charge Notice to be issued by post for 'drive-aways' or when an attendant is prevented from serving a PCN by violence, the attendant must have clear evidence that the vehicle was parked in contravention, and have already started to write the PCN."

Paul Watters, head of roads and transport policy for the AA, said: "The overriding principle to date is that tickets issued by attendants have to be given to the driver or fixed to the vehicle to be valid.

"We fear that these guidelines may be relaxed to allow tickets to become active if the attendant is merely thinking about writing one or simply saw an illegally-parked vehicle.

"If the Department for Transport wants to change the rules on ticket issue, it must bear in mind the trust factor between attendants and drivers.

"Removing the physical criteria for making a ticket active increases the chance of disputes and challenges."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in