This little-known parking rule is catching motorists out, especially the staycation tourists, hitting them with an immediate £100 fine, experts say to research before parking up for your holiday
A ‘parking disc’ system to manage short-term parking is now an uncommon feature of UK car parks – but it is still found in certain towns and villages.
The system is a low-cost option for local councils which was popular in the 60s and 70s. They used this instead of having to install expensive pay and display meters. What it does is when a motorist wants to park in a short-term car park, they set the arrival time on the parking disc, and then display the disc in their windscreen so when parking attendants come by, it is easily visible.
If a motorist goes over their time, like one or two hours, then they can face a penalty charge notice (PCN) of up to £100, depending on what location they’re parked in. It comes after drivers are told they can cut car insurance ‘instantly’ by telling their insurer one thing.
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Experts from Select Car Leasing say however, that many drivers don’t know what a parking disc is or what ‘Disc Zone’ parking signs are and they may be caught out with getting tickets when going to these UK locations that run these schemes.
Graham Conway, managing director at the company explains: “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 issue lies when people who don’t live in an area where there are parking discs, or younger drivers may not even have any knowledge on what they even are. He adds: “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.”
In most cases, you won’t have to buy a parking disc in the UK as they are usually provided free of charge by local councils. Local shops, tourist information centres have them too and you can even get them online from council websites.
Mr Conway insists that you should always do “your research before planning a trip and try to get a parking disc in advance.” The parking disc must also be from that particular council, make sure the expiry date has not run out too.
The tourist hotspots of the country are mainly in the north of England with the parking disc systems. Like Cumbria’s Lake District which includes the towns of Penrith, Keswick and Amleside.
North Yorkshire, and parts of Harrogate are also covered with the parking disc scheme as well as Scarborough and Whitby. In the south, areas like West Sussex, including Littlehampton and Bognor Regis too.
Many took to Tripadvisor to share the issue. One person wrote that they have “lost count of the times [they’ve] explained disc parking to visitors in Cockermouth and Keswick.”
Another Reddit user visited North Yorkshire and was unsure when a parking disc was left on their car. He asked the question: “Should I expect a ticket, or has some stranger helped us out?”
Another user replied to him and said that they “helped [him] out big time.” And that you should always set the clock to the time you arrive, and check which zone you are parked in, as some places you are only allowed to stay for an hour.
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