Legalities

At UK Parking Control we’re in the business of helping the owners and occupiers of private land to protect their property from abusive parking. Landlords and tenants have the right to reserve parking facilities for legitimate users – whether residents, staff or customers – and to charge people who unfairly take advantage of those facilities.

We abide by the Private Parking Enforcement (Regulation) Act 2005, which amended the Private Security Industry Act 2001. The charges we make are in accordance with the British Parking Association’s guidelines.

Legal precedents

By parking at one of the sites we manage a driver enters into a contract with us.

A key legal precedent for England and Wales was set in 1996, in the case of Arthur v Anker. The judge ruled that when Mr Arthur parked in breach of the terms and conditions prominently displayed at the site, he had entered into a contract with Mr Anker’s company and broken the terms. Therefore he was liable to pay the charges levied.

A newer precedent was set in 2008, in the case of Combined Parking Solutions (CPS) v Stephen James Thomas. Mr Thomas tried to deny that he was the person responsible for parking his car without a permit in a church car park managed by CPS. However, the judge ruled that “on the balance of probabilities” the driver was Mr Thomas, and that he had therefore knowingly entered into a contract with CPS. He was held liable to pay CPS’s charges plus interest, court fees and expenses.

In the Scottish courts the Arthur v Anker and CPS v Stephen James Thomas cases are considered ‘persuasive but not binding’. However the 2005 case of University of Edinburgh v Daniel Onifade set a relevant legal precedent for Scotland. In this case the court decided that Mr Onifade had knowingly parked in a private car park at the university on 29 occasions, without displaying a valid permit. The signage on display clearly explained that this would incur a charge of £30 per day. The judge held that Mr Onifade was liable to pay the total charges of £870 plus interest and costs.

We clearly display the appropriate terms and conditions on the signage at all our sites. As a result the parking charge notices (PCNs) we issue are enforceable in the civil courts.

Received a PCN?

If you have received a PCN and would like to pay it online, click here.

Or if you're considering appealing against a PCN, click here.