Euro Car Parks issued 1,897,000 parking tickets between October 2024 and September 2025. That's 5,197 tickets per day, 217 per hour, or one every 16 seconds for an entire year. According to Press Association analysis of government figures reported by Surrey Live, the company became one of Britain's most prolific private parking enforcers while simultaneously refusing to respond to the regulator investigating the industry.
The Competition and Markets Authority sent seven requests for information to Euro Car Parks over three months. They used registered post, email, and hand-delivered letters. Euro Car Parks ignored all of them. According to Scottish Legal News, the CMA imposed a £473,000 penalty in December 2025 for failure to comply with an information notice under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This marked the first time the regulator has used its new fining powers.
The company didn't respond until the CMA informed them a fine was being considered. Euro Car Parks then claimed they had blocked the regulator's emails because they suspected them to be fraudulent scam attempts. The excuse didn't impress the CMA. George Lusty, CMA interim executive director for consumer protection, told media that "this is the first time we have used this important power to fine a firm for failing to respond to our requests for information. It sends a clear message: firms that don't reply to our requests or refuse to comply risk facing penalties like this one."
Euro Car Parks attempted to prevent the CMA from naming them publicly, applying to the High Court for an injunction. The court refused the application on February 11, 2026. The company has appealed the fine, which isn't payable until the appeal is determined or withdrawn unless the court orders otherwise.
The broader picture is worse. Private parking firms issued 15.9 million tickets across the UK in the twelve months to September 2025, according to GB News analysis of DVLA data. That represents a 17% increase from 13.6 million the previous year. At current rates with penalties reaching £100, motorists could collectively be paying £4.4 million per day in private parking fines.
Between June and September 2025, 188 parking management firms requested vehicle owner details from the DVLA. ParkingEye emerged as the most prolific, purchasing 643,000 records during that three month period alone. The DVLA charges £2.50 per record, which the agency claims covers administrative costs rather than generating profit. That's £1.6 million paid by parking firms to the DVLA in just three months to chase drivers for alleged violations.
Lisa Webb from consumer group Which? described private car park companies as "often perceived to be the bane of motorists' lives." She told media that "we frequently hear from those engaged in disputes with private parking companies who feel frustrated, confused and stressed out by what they consider to be a nightmarish ordeal."
The industry operates without effective oversight. Parliament approved legislation in March 2019 to establish an official code of practice governing private parking operators. The proposed rules were scheduled for implementation by the end of 2023 and would have reduced the maximum penalty for most parking infringements from £100 to £50 while establishing a fairer appeals process. The Conservative Government withdrew the measures in June 2022 after parking companies mounted a successful legal challenge. According to GB News, the collapse of these reforms has left motorists without promised protections while ticket numbers continue climbing year on year.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams warned that "the rate of tickets being issued by the private parking industry has hit yet another record" and described the 48,000 daily tickets between June and September as "ominously high" given that most drivers actively try to avoid receiving notices.
How to Dispute a Parking Fine
The good news is that disputing a private parking charge doesn't cost money and the success rate is significant if you have grounds. Consumer expert Helen Dewdney provided practical advice through The Complaining Cow.
First, keep evidence of everything. Screenshot payment confirmations, save bank statements showing the transaction, and file physical parking receipts in a safe place every single time you park. Most successful appeals hinge on proving you paid or that circumstances were beyond your control.
Second, understand who you're dealing with. The firm sending the charge usually isn't the owner of the car park. For a supermarket car park, try a two-pronged approach by writing to both the store manager and the parking firm requesting cancellation. Landowners often have more interest in customer satisfaction than parking enforcement companies do.
There are valid grounds for appeal according to Scott at MoneyNerd : payment already made, poor or no signage, vehicle breakdown, medical emergency, or incorrect vehicle owner details. You need evidence for any of these reasons. Photos of unclear signage, medical documents, breakdown service records, or DVLA registration documents all strengthen your case.
When the charge arrives, follow the company's internal appeals process first. If they reject your appeal and they're members of either the British Parking Association or International Parking Community, you can appeal to those organizations next. According to The Gazette, if the firm is not a member of BPA or IPC, they cannot obtain your name and address from the DVLA, which means they can't take you to court if you don't pay.
However, if they're not a member, don't write to them with your address as that gives them the information they need to pursue you. Check their membership status before engaging.
Helen Dewdney's key advice: "Remember that it does not cost you any money to appeal a parking ticket, so it is always worth trying." The industry relies on drivers paying without question. Challenging them costs nothing and succeeds often enough to make it worthwhile.
The CMA confirmed it does not currently have a consumer enforcement case open against Euro Car Parks and stressed that "no assumption should be made" that the company has breached consumer law. The regulator is analyzing the information Euro Car Parks finally provided to determine whether a full investigation should be launched.
Euro Car Parks did not respond to media requests for comment. Their appeal against the £473,000 fine proceeds through the courts while they continue operating car parks across the UK. The 1.9 million motorists who received their tickets last year have no recourse beyond the existing appeals process, no protection from the code of practice that was supposed to be law by 2023, and no reduction in the £100 maximum penalty that was supposed to drop to £50.
Private parking enforcement generates enormous revenue with minimal accountability. The industry issued 15.9 million tickets last year, up 17% from the previous year, with no sign of slowing. Meanwhile, the regulations designed to protect drivers remain stuck in legal limbo while firms like Euro Car Parks issue tickets at a rate of one every 16 seconds and ignore requests from regulators investigating their practices.
The £473,000 fine sends a message that ignoring the CMA carries consequences. Whether it deters similar behavior from an industry generating millions in daily revenue from motorists remains to be seen. For now, drivers have one tool: appeal everything you believe is unfair, keep evidence of everything, and remember it costs nothing to challenge them.
