Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) enforce parking regulations (on street, or in Council car parks) and may issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) if they see a vehicle that appears to be parked incorrectly.
There are two paths for reporting an incorrectly parked vehicle:
- you can contact our enforcement team to report vehicles if you think they are breaching a restriction that a PCN may be issued for
- you can contact the police to report vehicles which are breaching a legal restriction
Examples of both types of restrictions and how to report them are given below.
Report incorrect parking to the enforcement team
The following are examples of incorrect parking that can be reported to the enforcement team:
- parking on yellow lines, including adjacent footways and verges
- stopping on zig zag lines by a crossing or outside a school
- parking in a permit bay without a valid permit
- using a disabled bay without a valid Blue Badge (except for on-street yellow advisory disabled bays, which we cannot enforce)
- parking in a loading bay without loading
- stopping in a restricted bus stop or taxi rank
- parked in a suspended bay
- parking in a Restricted Parking Zone (except in marked bays)
- parking on a footway that has parking restriction signs
- parking for longer than the permitted time in a parking bay
- parking after the expiry of paid for time
- parking in a pay and display bay without a valid pay and display ticket or pay by phone session
- not parking correctly within the bay markings
In some circumstances drivers may be permitted to park at a location without displaying anything in their vehicle. For example, they may have a valid virtual permit or a pay by phone parking session. Requests for enforcement will be assessed on CEO availability and planned patrols.
Different rules also apply to Blue Badge holders, for example, they are allowed to park on yellow lines (if there is no loading ban in place) for up to 3 hours. More information about parking regulations for Blue Badge holders is available on the government website.
Report incorrect parking to the police
The following are examples of incorrect parking that can be reported to the police:
- double white lines
- obstruction – for example, pavements with no parking restrictions
- dangerous parking where there are no restrictions in place, for example, on bends, brows of hills and junctions
- dropped kerb access
- double-parking
- one-way traffic
- box junctions
- access only
- white-hatched areas
- pedestrian crossings (can also be enforced by CEOs)
If you find an example of incorrect parking that is listed above, please call the police on 101 to report it.
Towing a vehicle
In some circumstances as well as issuing a parking fine, we may also tow the vehicle away.
We would consider this if the vehicle is left on parking restrictions:
- in a dangerous or obstructive manner
- blocking access to disabled bays for Blue Badge holders
- where roadworks are taking place
We may also remove vehicles where fines have been ignored, ie not paid or unsuccessfully appealed against.
If a Blue Badge is being misused, the badge may be taken away and a parking fine issued. Drivers could also be prosecuted for misuse of a Blue Badge (with a fine of up to £1000).