'Cowboy' parking firms rake in £537m a year as Andy Burnham promises drivers grace periods and £20 caps for honest mistakes

Private parking operators issued 16.9 million tickets in the year to March, a 96.5 per cent rise since 2021/22 — the equivalent of one ticket every two seconds. Labour faced accusations of 'surrendering' to the industry after ministers refused to cut the £100 maximum charge to £80. Conservative shadow transport minister Greg Smith said "Labour must think we're fools". An industry-funded appeals process will also remain unchanged.

APCOA, Euro Car Parks and ParkingEye accounted for more than half of 12.5 million DVLA data requests.

The new rules will give drivers five minutes on arrival to decide whether to stay, and ten minutes to leave once their parking session has ended.

Pensioner Nigel Richardson spent five years contesting a £1 ticket charge brought by Euro Car Parks.