Car parking fines are the bane of many motorists’ lives, with many resulting from mere forgetfulness rather than attempts to swerve restrictions. But it has revealed that fines of up to £170 are being sent to drivers from private parking companies as a result of faulty ticket machines, according to campaigners. The charges, which have totalled as much as £170 for some drivers, are apparently coming from parking machines which have not registered drivers' number plates correctly, leading to their cars incorrectly being issued fines for non-payment of parking charges.

Brits pay over a billion pounds a year in parking fines, figures from analysts Inrix suggest, amounting to £39 per driver per year. Many private car parks use ticket machines which require motorists to input their number plate when buying a ticket. This registration is then checked by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras at the entrances and exits to car parks to ensure the tickets match registrations.

If they do not, the cameras trigger a parking charge notice (PCN), 41,000 of which are sent on average to drivers in Britain each day, according to government data analysed by the RAC Foundation and PA Media in November 2024. However, many motorists claim they received a PCN even after inputting their registration correctly.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has said the issue of incorrect PCNs is a “problem that needs to be tackled”, while the RAC has advocated for a government-backed code of conduct to be written up.

Campaigner Lynda Eagan runs a Facebook group with 47,000 members which offers advice and help on parking tickets.

She said many machines were faulty, yet parking companies pursued fines regardless.

Eagan told The Guardian: “We’ve got unfair PCNs issued to people simply because the machine didn’t work properly. It’s a totally filthy business. It’s just wrong.”

She believes thousands of drivers are being sent incorrect PCNs, and says the most common fault is “sticky keys” which do not correctly record number plates and are “set up to trap people”.

Car insurance expert Rhydian Jones, from Confused.com, said: “Just like many of our motoring bills, any unexpected costs are an extra strain on the pockets of drivers. And issues like faulty machines shouldn’t be the responsibility of the driver to pay for. But drivers often face other unexpected charges, like penalty charge notices (PCNs) for parking incorrectly.

“For many, confusing parking signs are the reason drivers get stung. That’s as our research found that nearly 1 in 3 (30%) who have appealed a parking ticket said it was because they felt the sign was unclear. And 3 in 5 (63%) drivers think parking signs should be made clearer to avoid confusion.”

Rhydian advised drivers to check parking restrictions carefully when they park, looking again at parking signs and road marking, especially in town centres where rules may vary through the week.

He also recommended planning ahead and researching parking options before heading out, while avoiding risky spots such as across driveways, in restricted bays or on yellow lines.