Crackdown on rogue parking firms who issue 'extortionate' tickets

It follows outrage over the Government's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) selling details of motorists to cowboy firms for £2.50 a time.

Millions of motorists then find "dodgy" parking tickets dropping through their letter boxes with demands to pay or face court action.

Many of these firms are run by former "cowboy" clampers who - under new rules - must be properly licensed and cannot operate if they have a criminal records.

To get around this, many have switched to running car-paring scams to fleece motorists by issuing them with parking "fines" which typically cost around £120 but can be much more.

The Government has ruled that from October this year, the information will only be issued to properly "accredited" trade associations.

On Wednesday the first of these trade associations is to be named by the DVLA today as the British Parking Association.

Firms which from October are accredited by the British Parking Association - but fail to live up the rules of its Code of Conduct on issuing tickets - will then be thrown out of the association.

This means they will no longer be allowed to issue tickets legally on private land. The BPA has no powers to fine or imprison. The aim is to drive out hundreds of "cowboy" operators.

The announcement will be made at the Parkex and Traffex exhibition at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.

Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman announced last July measures to ensure that motorists' names and home addresses do not fall into the wrong hands.

It followed revelations that the Government's DVLA was selling sensitive details from its official database at £2.50 a time to firms including banks, solicitors and private detective agencies – and even convicted criminals.

The DVLA admitted it was selling the details of more than 100,000 drivers a month, earning it more than £9million since 2002.

Its approved customer list even included one parking enforcement firm run by two men jailed for extorting money from motorists.

As a result, parking enforcement firms will from this October have to set out exactly why they should be given access.

Companies will also have to prove that they belong to a recognised trade body – a move ministers - who acted only after intense pressure form the media and motoring organisations - believes will root out "cowboy" operators.

A new complaints procedure will be introduced for the public to report rogue operators.

Over the six-week period, one firm alone, Creative Car Park Management, obtained details of 2,746 drivers from the DVLA. It has contracts with the Coop, Kwik Save and Aldi, and demands fines of up to £170.

Edmund King of the RAC Foundation said:'Since the new regulations on wheel-clamomg came into force in May 2006, wheel-clamping on private land has been licensed.

"Some of these cowboy clampers could not get licensed because they were considered unfit people or had a criminal record.

"Some have exploited a loophole which allows them to issue extortionate tickets - even if they can't clamp the car.

"They have exploited civil law of trespass - and been allowed to get away with it. It's a very grey area. Motorists are being fleeced. The tickets and "fines" look plausible. But it's a legal quagmire if they are legal.

Because they are issued on private land, their issue comes under the civil law of trespass.

"From October this year the DVLA will only release information about drivers to an accredited trade association - such as the British Parking Association."

The British Parking Association (BPA) pledged last night to "end the consumer misery over rogue ticketing noting:"

Rogue companies which issue parking tickets on private land will be driven out of the market thanks to the new initiative set to be enforced later this year.

"We are launching the British Parking Association's Code of Conduct for Ticketing on Private Land. It promised 'stringent enforcement'."

The BPA said it is the recognised authority within the UK's parking industry and the largest professional association in Europe.

Its members include local authorities, health authorities, theme parks and others with responsibilities for managing parking, as well as the enforcement agents responsible for enforcing parking penalties.

A spokesman for the Department for transport said: "There is a legal requirement on the DVLA to release certain information. But there have been concerns bout certain unscrupulous organisations using data improperly."

In a six week period to December alone, the DVLA sold the names and addresses of nearly 8,000 drivers to clamping and car park firms.