Civil parking enforcement
Overview
What can I report?
You can tell us if someone is parking where they shouldn't. We enforce areas where there are signs and lines, for example double yellow lines. If there are no restrictions then you need to contact Cheshire Police on the non emergency line 101. We also enforce bus lanes in Chester.
Dropped kerb or footway – Parking
There are two types of dropped kerb/footway, those outside driveways allowing access to residents of individual houses or businesses and those used for pedestrian crossovers.
Obstructing any dropped kerb/footway will cause inconvenience either to the owner of the property who cannot obtain access to or from their property or those requiring level access across the road. Parking next to a dropped kerb/footway at a pedestrian crossover point can cause danger to pedestrians, particularly the elderly, disabled and parents with pushchairs.
• Parking adjacent to dropped kerb/footway of a pedestrian crossover
These will be enforced at any time by a Civil Enforcement Officer in the course of their duties.
• Parking adjacent to dropped kerb/footway of a residential/business building
Where the dropped kerb/footway permits access to residential/business premises, the contravention is only enforced in response to a request. This is to ensure that only a genuine complaint (from the resident or business owner) about obstruction of the dropped kerb/footway is dealt with.
If you are a householder/business owner and having problems then please report it and we can then arrange for an enforcement visit where deployment levels allow.
What happens next?
Your report will be sent to our parking team, who will ask the relevant officers to visit the location to enforce the parking restrictions in place. Please note we may not be able to attend on the day of the request due to the demand for enforcement across our borough.
The benefits of parking restrictions
We enforce parking restrictions to help residents and visitors by:
- easing congestion caused by inconsiderate parking
- improving road safety e.g. at junctions where parked cars can block the view
- improving access and response times for emergency vehicles and public transport
- reducing abuse of disabled parking by making sure spaces are available for genuine Blue Badge holders.
Full information on the legal procedure relating to parking fines can be found on the Patrol UK website.
Grace periods
A 10 minute grace period will be given in parking areas where waiting is already permitted or where parking has been paid for.
This will apply to:
- on street parking areas where waiting is allowed – for example, where signs state that waiting is permitted for 30 minutes, a parking ticket will not be issued until 40 minutes has elapsed
- pay and display car parks – a parking ticket will not be issued until 10 minutes after the expiry time shown on a pay and display ticket
This will not apply to:
- on street areas where waiting is not allowed – this includes yellow lines, school zig-zags, bus stops, taxi ranks and loading bays
- pay and display car parks where no pay and display ticket is displayed
The above is given as a guide only, the government has produced guidance to local authorities on parking legislation as a whole and reference to the grace period can be found in section 8.4 of the guidance document.
Parking enforcement guidance
We've produced guidance which explains how enforcement is carried out and provides details of when a Penalty Charge Notice might be cancelled. The guidance was developed by consulting residents and complies with parking legislation and the Secretary of State's guidance.
Parking accounts
Income
| Year | On-street parking | Off-street parking | Penalty Charge Notices |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015/16 | £0 | £3,279,358 | £1,001,681 (no surplus) |
| 2016/17 | £0 | £3,288,469 | £1,026,885 (no surplus) |
| 2017/18 | £0 | £4,004,246 | £1,024,078 (no surplus) |
| 2018/19 | £0 | £4,433,833 | £877,886 (no surplus) |
| 2019/20 | £0 | £4,503,804 | £1,064,915 (no surplus)* |
| 2020/21 | £0 | £1,963,992 | £650,823 (no surplus)* |
| 2021/22 | £87,834 | £3,132,377 | £1,137,582 (no surplus)* |
| 2022/23 | £103,148 | £3,558,118 | £1,328,922 (no surplus)* |
| 2023/24 | £128,425 | £3,593,169 | £1,384,539 (no surplus)* |
| 2024/25 | £147,283 | £5,619,213 | £1,745,295(TBC)**. |
* includes bus lanes
** includes bus lane and Moving Traffic Enforcement
Body wearable video policy
Our enforcement officers wear video camera badges for safety reasons and for evidential purposes for dealing with complaints from the public.
