Number plate cameras blamed for issuing drivers with £3million worth of parking fines

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Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) tools capture personal details when a car enters the area and checks to see whether fines have been paid. If drivers have missed a payment, fines are automatically issued by using the number plate to hunt down the driver’s address details.

New analysis from Churchill Car Insurance has revealed that the number of planning applications for ANPR tools has risen sharply.

Over the last two years, applications for the cameras have increased by 61 percent as firms rely on new tools to enforce penalties.

Drivers pay up to £1.07billion worth of fines each year in costs which equates to £2.9million a day or a shocking £2,035 a minute.

Churchill Insurance said the new tools are mainly being used in busy areas such as supermarket car parks and hospitals.

However, there are fears penalties are being incorrectly handed out to road users who may be incorrectly picked up by the service.

The analysis revealed that 16 percent of those fined did not realise they needed to pay to use the car park.

A further 12 percent claimed they received the fine due to a faulty camera installed in the car park

However, the survey found that one in eight drivers were successfully bringing appeals against ANPR fines.

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The most common reason for picking up the charges was simply overstaying the length of the visit they had paid for.

Alex Kindred, spokesperson at Confused.com said there was “lots of confusion” among road users on the different rules.

He has urged councils to spend money generated from fines to make signs clearer to reduce the issues faced by many motorists.

He said: “More than a third (36 percent) of motorists told us they think that more money needs to be invested in making signs clearer.

“Part of the money taken from fines should be spent on remedying that issue, so that drivers aren’t paying out unnecessarily.

“Our research found that nearly three quarters (74%) of drivers who appealed a PCN were successful, suggesting that many fines are in fact being issued unfairly.

“Clearly, there’s lots of confusion around the different parking rules.”

Churchill Insurance’s analysis comes just over a month after the government announced it would crackdown on private parking firms.

The government proposals will see firms forced to offer a 10 minute grace period before charging a driver.

Firms must also clearly display their prices and any terms and conditions as well as how drivers can make a complaint against any charge they receive.

A new tiered approach is also set to be introduced which would see motorists fined between £40 and £80 for less serious offences.

This could then be increased to £120 for more serious issues such as falsely parking in disabled bays.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “These new measures are a victory for the millions of motorists across the country.

“They will put a stop once and for all to rogue parking firms using aggressive tactics and handing out unfair parking tickets with no right to appeal, while also boosting our high streets by making it easier for people to park near their local shops without being unfairly fined.

“Our proposals will restore common sense to the way parking fines are issued, while cracking down on the worst offenders who put other people in danger and hinder our emergency services from carrying out their duties.

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