Drivers’ fury in UK car parking fine capital after 216% surge in penalties – and with more price hikes on the way within days

Drivers in the car parking fine capital of the UK have been left outraged after a whopping 216 per cent surge in penalties – with more price hikes to come. 

Motorists in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, instead of enjoying the supposed peace and quiet of the garden of England, are ‘at war’ over what they dub a ‘car parking crisis’. 

They say the huge increase in tariffs, along with faulty machines, far too many apps and overenthusiastic wardens have left the leafy market town unpopular and nearly deserted.  

Stats show from 2021 to 2024, the number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued by the council increased by a shocking 216 per cent, from 36,587 to 115,741.

A small number of recipients of these traffic breach documents did not have to pay – almost 15,000 PCNs were cancelled or written off in the financial year of 2023-24.

But there has otherwise been little let-up for road users in the historic town, with charges for many of the small council-operated car parks set to rise. 

Under the proposals, the cost of one hour in a bay in one car park would nearly triple, jumping from 80p to £2.30.

And it is not just publicly owned parking under fire, with locals also despairing of the increased cost of private spaces. 

Resident Jan Farrage, 67, dubbed the whole mess a ‘nightmare’: ‘It’s a real problem. There just needs to be one system for all.

‘There’s so many apps I have lost count. They all need different logins and codes and God knows what else. Why can’t there be one simple system?

‘I have to pay to park outside my house. It’s a permit system. 

‘I don’t mind that but then it starts to become an issue with rising costs and difficulties when parking in the town itself. The cost itself has gone up.

‘People are simply not going to want to come and visit. Why would they? 

‘It’s very unwelcoming being hit with rising car park charges and so much confusion around it all when you get here.’

Ms Farrage added the widespread rollout of card or contactless only payment was also a major concern: ‘After Covid, the car parks don’t accept cash. 

‘That’s a problem in itself. Some people still want to pay using cash. 

She warned it was ‘crucial’ that precious high street shops – many of which are dying up and down the country – were not hit with further hardship amid the chaos. 

‘I fear and also feel for the businesses. They work so hard. We have a thriving high street and it’s important it stays that way,’ she urged. 

Her fellow local Dennis Nolan, 56, meanwhile, simply labelled the situation a ‘crisis’. 

The plumber explained: ‘I’ve never known so much anger towards something. 

‘Someone said there’s six different parking apps covering the town. It’s insane. The prices are going up, wardens pounce on you like you’re prey.

‘I parked in the town, I spent two minutes trying to get the app to work and also get a ticket from the machine. 

‘It was a small walk from the machine. When I returned to my car I had got a ticket. I am appealing. I barely had time to get out of my car and they had me.

‘It’s very unwelcoming. What’s the point?’

Robin Rae, 81, was equally exasperated by a lifetime of difficulty parking in the town – which the retiree said had been a major issue for ‘many years’. 

‘I believe there needs to be a park and ride system. It would solve a lot of problems,’ the local continued. 

‘At my age I don’t bother with the apps. I miss paying by cash. People my age are put off from coming into town. Yet that might be the only activity they get. 

‘It’s really sad. It could really impact their life.’

Fellow resident Marvin Ellott, 63, said: ‘At my age, all these apps can be confusing. There must be a way of making it simpler.’

Meanwhile, beautician Donna Grant, 54, said the whole farce was a ‘disgrace’: ‘The people of the town really are at war about it.

‘It’s a huge issue. It angers me. Why do things have to be so difficult all the time?’

But it is not just locals hit hard by the madness, with visitors to the town also having their hard-earned days out frustrated by parking troubles. 

Gina Bond, 56, and husband Mitchell, 65, who were visiting Tunbridge Wells from Romford in east London, said parking had caused them issues.

Ms Bond said: ‘We’ve paid £3 today and it used to be free on a Sunday. It feels like drivers get punished at every opportunity.

‘But look at the town, it’s dead. There’s nobody here. It should be busy. It’s small-term thinking, people just won’t bother coming in if they feel it’s all an expense.

‘There’s retail places where parking is free and they’ll go there. It’s terrible for small businesses. There’s a never-ending amount of apps as well.’

Shopkeeper Ryan Deighton, 56, echoed her warning, confessing the situation had hit trade ‘badly’. 

‘I’ve got a little shop and we’ve seen a real reduction in trade. I’d say probably 20 per cent,’ he admitted. 

‘People just don’t come in anymore. Everyone moans about a lack of spaces, the cost going up, apps, and getting wardens putting tickets on straight away.

‘It’s not very inviting.’

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council told The Times the parking price increases were in line with inflation and it was investing in renovating car parks in the town. 

The local authority questioned the evidence from residents regarding parking attendants and said almost two thirds of drivers use the RingGo app.

It confirmed the number of PCNs had increased, some due to a new restriction in the town centre, but said the figures had not gone up in car parks.

The Kent town’s council bosses are not alone in tightening up local parking, according to figures from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. 

Elsewhere in the south-east county, the Medway local authority issued 32 per cent more PCNs in 2023-24 compared with 2021-22. 

And the number of the notices issued across England as a whole increased by nearly a third (30 per cent) from 2019-20 to 2024-25. 

It seems drivers up and down the country are not going to see any abatement of the relentless parking crackdown any time soon. 

And most certainly not after the release of some recent figures, which showed Britain now has more parking wardens than full-time soldiers. 

There are estimated to be around 82,000 traffic enforcement officers patrolling UK streets, the British Parking Association said. 

This eclipses the number of regular soldiers in the British Army, which has shrunk in recent years, with the latest figures saying there are roughly 73,490 full-time troops. 

And despite funding cuts having recently blighted the UK’s military, councils appear to be raking in huge profits from their armies of parking wardens.

Profits nationwide have jumped from £961million two years ago to about £1.1billion in the most recent year.

All in all, figures show revenues from drivers for parking permits, tickets and fines have surged about 20 per cent in two years, as councils raise charges to cover budget shortfalls.

Official data also shows in the last year, councils in England made a staggering £1.4billion from on-street parking charges and £876million from council-run car parks.

Broken down, it means on average, every car on the road in the UK is paying £70 a year in parking charges – although the true figure will be higher because fines are just for England.

The statistics also do not include cash raised from congestion charging, clean air zones and fines for cars venturing into bus lanes – which brought an extra £1billion of total revenue.

London councils took the lion’s share of parking income nationwide receiving revenues of £1.065billion – with Kensington and Chelsea alone making £49million a year from on-street parking.

Manchester raked in £19million while Brighton took in £33million.

The statistics come amid recent inflation-busting rises in parking charges and fines, which are due to councils looking to increase their revenues in the face of increased spending pressures.

Earlier this year, London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, green-lit an increase in parking fines to a maximum of £160 – up from the previous high of £130. 

Last year, London councils issued about 8.3 million penalty charge notices.

Councils nationwide have been upping the cost of residential parking permits for households, adding to the revenues generated by authorities.

London’s Bexley council, for instance, raised the cost of a 12-month parking permit by 23 per cent to £160. 

Meanwhile, Camden council now adds an additional ‘air quality surcharge’ on its permits, which can cost as much as £195 a year for diesel vehicles.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, said parking had become a cash cow for councils and was now effectively a tax on driving.

‘Making £1.2billion in profit, from an income haul of £2.3billion, out of people’s pockets and potential consumer spending is where we are now with so many English city and town councils and their unrestrained costs and fines,’ he said.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Kent County Council have been approached for comment.