BCP Council trial new parking penalty system

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council started a trial in which penalty charge notices were increased from Southbourne to Sandbanks. 

During the trial, parking fines have been increased from £70 to £160, with the potential of it being reduced to £80 if paid off within 14 days. 

The council did this to see if these higher charges act as a more effective deterrent against illegal parking in busy areas such as the seafront.

Local Bournemouth resident Emily NG said: “We have had a lot of issues with parking fines on my road especially during the busy summer months and hopefully this new trial will reduce them.” 

BCP Council has issued more than 90,000 parking tickets in the last year. 

The number of parking tickets in the BCP area has also increased in the past two years by over 15%. 

Nationally, approximately 60,000 parking fines are issued by local and private companies every day.

In total, combining both council and private firms, approximately 21 million parking tickets are issued in the UK each year. 

The council have reiterated that parking on double yellow lines is banned at all times unless the occupant of the vehicle has a blue badge. 

They have also stated that parking on single yellow lines is only prohibited at certain times which will be displayed on controlled signs nearby. 

The report is currently being drafted and will be publicly available on when results are gathered then next steps will be decided.