The government has announced that the majority of fines issued by private operators will be cut by up to 50% as part of a new crackdown on “cowboy” firms.
Under a new parking code of practice, which is being introduced by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the maximum fine allowed to be issued by private car parking firms will be reduced from £100 to £50 for most cases in England and Wales, excluding London.
According to the new rules, private car parks will also have to display prices more clearly, use a fairer appeal system, and give drivers a 10-minute grace period for lateness.
The maximum charge will be reduced to £50 in most cases, or £70 for more serious breaches.
When appealing fines, parking terms and conditions will also have to be clearly displayed in a bid to end firms hiding behind “non-specific, pseudo-legal and aggressive language”, although innocent mistakes, such as mistyping a registration number into a ticket machine, will be excused however.
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A single parking appeals service would also be created to handle complaints.
Private firms who breach the new code could end up having their access to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data cut off, which means they could be banned from collecting fines in the future, yet this is expected to only kick-in from the end of 2023.
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Speaking on the new government crackdown, Neil O’Brien – Minister for Levelling Up – said: “Private firms issue roughly 22,000 parking tickets every day, often adopting a system of misleading and confusing signage, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees designed to extort money from motorists.
“The new Code Of Practice will set out a clear vision with the interests of safe motorists at its heart, while cracking down on the worst offenders who put other people in danger and hinder our emergency services from carrying out their duties.”
/ Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Vehicle insurance and breakdown companies the AA and RAC have welcomed the new code.
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Edmund King – President of the AA – said: “These much-needed upgrades to private parking rules will give better protection to drivers [as] for too long, those caught by private parking firms simply pay the charge to get rid of it [but] thankfully these days are numbered.
“Drivers should feel confident that having a single code of practice and a new appeals charter will give them confidence to appeal and be properly heard.
“We are also pleased that honest mistakes, like mistyping the car registration into the machine, will now be automatically cancelled.”
“The RAC has campaigned for years to end the sharp practices in the private parking sector,” added Nicholas Lyes – Head of Roads Policy at the RAC.
“So we welcome the new national code that will usher in higher standards and will introduce a lower cap on penalty charge notices, an independent appeals system, and an end to rip-off debt collection fees.
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“This will undoubtedly make drivers’ experience of using private car parks fairer while at the same time force rogue operators to clean up their acts once and for all.”
Jimmy Bradbury, Reuben Haycocks, Aoife Anson O’Connell, and Paddy Murphy – better known together as Westside Cowboy – formed back in 2023 when they were students at the Royal Northern College of Music, so while they may not all be from Manchester, they definitely have the spirit of our city at the heart of everything they do.
After playing in different bands across the city throughout their student years, the four-piece joined forces to create Westside Cowboy – an indie rock collective credited with self-coining the genre of ‘Britainicana’.
Put simply, Britainicana is a cultural concept that mixes the hazy, mythic feel of American country and folk, with the sound of raw British punk, indie rock, and small-town life.
Westside Cowboy have released their debut album, It Goes On / Credit: Clementine Schniedermann (Press Shots – Supplied)
If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you’ll be pleased to know that Westside Cowboy have released their debut album, It Goes On, to the world today (21 August).
And the reception from critics, arguably, couldn’t be better.
Prior to the release of their debut album, the band had released two EPs, including So Much Country ‘Till We Get There in January earlier this year, and had started to make a name for themselves with their popular debut single ‘I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)’ in 2024.
They went onto make even further waves when they supported equally-rising American rock band Geese on their UK and Irish tour back in March – with many fans calling it one of the best support and main act combinations in some time.
Three singles from their debut album were shared with the world ahead of its release – ‘Kick Stones (The Boys)’ came first, followed by ‘Pin Up Boys’ and ‘Dobro’.
So, it’s fair to say the anticipation for album was high… and if the reviews are anything to go by (which we think they are), it looks like the band has very much delivered what they set out to achieve.
Westside Cowboy’s debut album It Goes On is now available to stream, or you can purchase a physical copy in a range of formats from their website here.
Take a listen👇
Featured Image – Press Shot (Supplied)
News
UK set to be battered by storms as ‘unprecedented’ El Niño arrives this autumn
Emily Sergeant
The UK is being told to brace for a series of storms this autumn when the ‘unprecedented’ El Niño weather event arrives.
It’s already been a summer of extremes for the country, with multiple heatwaves over the past couple of months, but now it appears that autumn and winter are set to have some extremes of their own, as the Met Office is warning that this upcoming El Niño could be one of the most significant in recent memory.
El Niño is declared when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5°C above the long-term average, which therefore impacts global rainfall patterns and average temperatures.
The natural warming of sea temperatures is forecast to reach more than 3°C in the coming months, according to the Met Office, making this year’s weather event have the potential to be ‘the largest since the 19th century’.
The UK is set to be battered by storms as ‘unprecedented’ El Niño arrives this autumn / Credit: Johannes Plenio (via Unsplash)
El Niño will create a heightened risk of drought in the tropics, southern Africa, and north eastern Australia, but over in north western Europe – including the UK – it means we are likely to experience wetter and stormier conditions.
The UK, and of course Greater Manchester, is absolutely no stranger to a storm around this time of year, but forecasters say this could be an entirely different beast.
“We should be clear that this is an unprecedented event,” warned Professor Adam Scaife, who is the Head of Long Range Forecasting at the Met Office.
“I have never seen an El Nino signal this intense in our forecasts.”
Professor Scaife concluded: “A typical El Nino leads to an equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperature rise of between one to 2°C, with 2°C being a really big event. This implies that, if the forecast is accurate, and other forecast systems show similar extreme values, then 2026 will far exceed our recent experience of El Niño and its worldwide climate influences.’
Forecasters and officials, however, have warned that it could take months of sustained rainfall before rivers, reservoirs, and groundwaters are ‘completely replenished’ – which is when a drought can officially be declared as over.
It also warned drought conditions could persist into the new year as, despite El Niño, as current forecasts do not suggest this autumn will have the amount of rainfall needed to drive recovery.
Emily Sergeant -
7th February 2022 
