Motorists could be hit with an immediate £100 fine for failing to follow a little-known parking rule at popular tourist hotspots. Smaller towns and villages in some of Britain’s most beautiful destinations are still using traditional parking discs instead of pay-and-display meters.
Parking discs are usually blue clock-faced cards that motorists place on their dashboard to show when they first arrived at a destination. The dial indicates when a vehicle stopped, allowing enforcement teams to check if vehicles have exceeded their allotted time. However, parking discs may have to be picked up from local shops or tourist information centers, meaning road users could fall foul of the rules if they genuinely didn’t know.
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Graham Conway, managing director at Select Car Leasing, said: “Parking discs are a slightly old-school method of enforcement but still practical for lots of local councils, particularly in rural or coastal towns. The problem is that if you’re not from an area that runs a parking disc system, or perhaps if you’re from a younger generation, you might not have a clue what a parking disc even is.
“And parking attendants won’t care one bit if you’re only visiting a place for the first time and are confused about the rules.”
Destinations which use parking discs include Cumbria’s Lake District, and parts of North Yorkshire, including Scarborough and Whitby. Parts of West Sussex also have the parking disc system in place such as Littlehampton and Bognor Regis.
The tool is already catching out road users, with many revealing the extent of the issue across staycation holiday destinations this summer.
One user on TripAdvisor posted: “I have lost count of the times I’ve explained disc parking to visitors in Cockermouth and Keswick.
Another added: “Parked in Scarborough this weekend (I'm not from these parts) and came back to the car with one of these on. Should I expect a ticket, or has some stranger helped us out?”
Drivers who exceed their allotted time will run the risk of being slapped with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) of up to £100. However, fines can massively vary based on location, with companies or councils likely to set their own rules and guidelines.
Graham added: “Do your research before planning a trip and try to get a parking disc in advance. Also, be aware that you can’t use any old parking disc - it has to be a parking disc issued by that particular council. Many also have an expiration date, which is another element that can catch out unsuspecting motorists.”
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