Parking tickets

Unfortunately, as soon as you leave your vehicle unattended, other than to go to the Pay and Display machine to buy a ticket, you have parked. If you intend to park within a Pay and Display car park you should ensure you arrive with enough change to get a ticket.

You're not allowed to stop at any time unless the reason you have stopped is a permitted reason. For example you cannot simply stop on a yellow line to pop into a shop, withdraw cash or similar. You should find a legal parking place for this. Our Civil Enforcement Officers will observe a vehicle to ensure the vehicle has stopped for a permitted reason, but as soon as it is obvious it hasn't a parking ticket will be issued.

It is your responsibility to buy enough time to cover the time you wish to park for. This needs to include allowing for any possible over-running of meetings or appointments.

When parking, it's your responsibility to make sure you are doing so correctly while not breaking any of the local restrictions which are on signs and road markings.

It is your responsibility to make sure the vehicle is roadworthy and will not break down during the journey. 'Foreseeable' problems such as running out of petrol/water/oil/brake fluid, or problems that have been happening for a while, for example not being able to start the vehicle, are no excuse and so you will still be liable for the parking ticket.

Emergency problems such as flat tyres, collisions or the engine falling out can, at our discretion, be accepted as valid reasons for cancelling your parking ticket. We will need relevant proof from your breakdown company. So a report, garage invoice or recovery sheet from a breakdown service as proof that your vehicle required work. We can't accept any handwritten receipts.

If you are the registered owner/keeper of the vehicle, then you are responsible for the parking ticket. You must pay it regardless of who was driving at the time. If your vehicle was stolen when the parking ticket was issued then the ticket will normally be cancelled, however, you must provide a valid crime reference number to enable us to verify this with the Police.

We get calls all the time from the Police, schools and parents about safety outside schools. We get requests to make sure parents picking up or dropping off park correctly and consider other pedestrians and motorists when doing this.

Our Civil Enforcement Officers patrol schools on a regular basis to ensure the safety of the children.

You are not allowed to park for an extended length of time to drop a child to school or pick them up, over and above the time required for a child to get in or out of a vehicle, although even this is not permitted on School Keep Clear markings. We would urge all parents to make sure they arrive at school early enough to find a proper parking space.

Parking restrictions are put in place to help with the free flow of traffic and therefore have to be enforced. They also assist with the health and safety of other road users and pedestrians.

Although you may have not been causing an obstruction, if you park on a parking restriction during its operational hours, you will receive a parking ticket if you're observed by a Civil Enforcement Officer.

It's your responsibility to ensure the place you leave your vehicle is free from restrictions. If you drive somewhere where there is no parking available then it's your responsibility to find a suitable alternative.

Even though our Civil Enforcement Officers evidence any notes left on vehicles, the officer will still treat the vehicle in the same way as any other, and if no driver is seen to be carrying out permitted activities then a parking ticket will be issued.

If you're a Blue Badge holder you're not allowed to park and use your disabled badge in:

• loading bays
• areas with a loading restriction
• areas with waiting restrictions
• a 'permit holders only' car park

It clearly states in the Blue Badge booklet the places where you can't park and this includes parking places reserved for specific users as described above, even if all of the disabled bays are full.