One Dorset council’s plea to the Government to allow it to issue higher parking fines risks a nationwide ripple effect that would send penalty charges across Britain soaring and ‘bursting the dam keeping traffic fines to a reasonable level’, the AA has warned.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has made a request to the Department for Transport to make temporary higher fines a permanent fixture.
It comes after it saw a positive impact of doubling parking-related penalty charge notices (PCNs) along the coastal stretch from Sandbanks to Hengistbury Head last August, which it said had ‘made roads safer, reduced congestion and improved accessibility’ in the popular tourist hotspot.
During the month-long trial, the council issued higher tariff PCNs of £160 – on par with the highest fines issued in London – and £110 for lower tariff offences to more than 4,000 motorists over three weekends. The fines were halved if paid within a fortnight.
This was more than twice the standard PCN amount of £70 and £50 respectively (again halved in paid within two weeks). It means the trial elevated the value of fines by up to 129 per cent.
BCP Council received the greenlight for last year’s trial after it had complained of roads becoming overrun by illegal parkers in previous summers as holidaymakers and day visitors flocked to nearby beaches along the popular southern coastline.
The trial was considered a landmark case, with parking fines outside the capital remaining unchanged since 2008.
But the AA has hit back at the authority’s request to permanently impose higher fines, warning that a blanket increase to local parking PCNs to match London charges would be ‘unacceptable’ and risks other councils copying the policy to profiteer from the nation’s motorists.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council has requested to permanently enforce parking fines of up to £160 after a one-month trial last summer to tackle illegal parking along coastal hotspots. The AA said it threatens a ripple effect of local authorities across the country more than doubling penalty charges. Pictured: Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset
The trial not only saw an increase in fines for breaching car park rules – including misuse of disabled parking bays – and illegal parking on double yellow lines and grass verges but higher fees for releasing cars seized by the council.
During August, drivers had to pay £280 for collect their impounded motors, up from the standard £105 rate.
Meanwhile, storage fees for vehicles seized were increased from £12 per day to £55, with car disposal fees also doubled from £50 to £100.
BCP Council has shared the results of the August trial with the DfT in a report published this week in the hope it will grant permission to make the measures permanent.
The document suggests that illegal and irresponsible parking had dropped significantly during the trial period, with the council recording almost a 7 per cent decline in instances compared to the year previous.
The local authority also suggested that the threat of higher fines had no impact on the number of people visiting the region, with millions still making the trip to the coastal stretch last summer.
And the request to permanently hike fines to as much as £160 has already received public support.
Some 59 per cent of residents have backed the calls for increased fines alongside 76 per cent of businesses, BCP Council claims.
The council said the August 2025 trial of higher parking fines along the coastal stretch from Sandbanks to Hengistbury Head had ‘made roads safer, reduced congestion and improved accessibility’ in the popular tourist hotspot
During the month-long trial, the council issued higher tariff PCNs of £160 – on par with the highest fines issued in London – and £110 for lower tariff offences to more than 4,000 motorists over three weekends, up from £70 and £50 respectively
BCP Council received the greenlight for last year’s trial after it had complained of roads becoming overrun by illegal parkers in previous summers as holidaymakers and day visitors flocked to nearby beaches along the popular southern coastline
Councillor Millie Earl said: ‘Illegal parking blights our communities.
‘It blocks roads, obstructs pavements, and prevents people with disabilities, parents with pushchairs, and emergency services from moving safely and freely.
‘For years, we’ve been calling on the Government for stronger powers to tackle this behaviour, and with the support of our local MPs, we’ve been able to trial an approach that clearly demonstrates the need for permanent change.
‘With the technology and infrastructure already in place from the trial, we are ready to make this permanent, which is why we’re asking the Government to allow us to do just that – ensuring this sort of behaviour is properly deterred going forward.’
Announcing the calls for £160 parking fines to become permanent, Cllr Millie Earl said: ‘Illegal parking blights our communities. It blocks roads, obstructs pavements, and prevents people with disabilities, parents with pushchairs, and emergency services from moving safely and freely’
The trial not only saw an increase in fines for breaching car park rules – including misuse of disabled parking bays – and illegally parking on double yellow lines and grass verges but higher fees for releasing cars seized by the council
The AA told Daily Mail and This is Money that the authority’s request to enforce £160 parking fines is an ‘alarming overreach’
Councillor Richard Herrett added: ‘The report clearly shows that greater powers work and prompt a shift in behaviour, with less illegal parking, shorter journey times, and more than enough parking spaces just a short walk away from the beach.
‘Making these powers permanent would mean safer roads for everyone, every day: keeping our communities accessible and traffic moving more freely.’
He concluded: ‘For too long, illegal and dangerous parking along our seafront roads has put lives at risk, obstructed emergency and resident access, and undermined the safety and enjoyment of our coastal spaces.’
But the AA told Daily Mail and This is Money that the authority’s request to enforce £160 parking fines is an ‘alarming overreach’.
Luke Bosdet, public affairs officer at the motoring organisation told us that all councils outside London would likely follow suit, triggering ‘the dam holding parking fines to a reasonable level to burst’.
In a letter sent to Councillor Earl on Friday, Mr Bosdet said the AA sympathised with the authority’s plight of illegal parkers, especially during summer months, but said it opposed the request to increase fines because it ‘does not believe the vast majority of visitors set off with the intention to block roads and dodge parking charges or fines’.
Bosdet also pointed out that the request to increase fines is not targeted to ‘rogue parking problem areas’ but instead applies widely and at all times, not just peak visitor periods.
As a result, drivers who genuinely fail to display a parking ticket correctly by error are at risk of getting stung for the full £160 fine.
‘The AA has to consider the ‘mistake’ element of parking offences, whether that is down to pay-by-phone not working or elderly drivers not understanding what they are supposed to do. These offences are very different from deliberately parking illegally,’ Bosdet said.
He also took issue with the council’s suggestion that the £23.60 cost of 14 hours parking in the area was too close to the £25 discounted cost of fines, meaning there was little deterrent for driver considering parking illegally.
‘That may be true but it is a situation that successive BCP councils have helped to create,’ the AA spokesman said.
‘Ramping up the cost of parking for summer visitors is not exclusive to Bournemouth but it has been taken to a level way above what most other resorts charge.’
The AA also pointed to BCP Councils statistics regarding the trial, namely that it achieved a less than 10 per cent change in parking behaviour, suggesting it wasn’t as successful as the council had attempted to present.
‘The report claims that the trial thwarted an expected increase in offending, which I hope is true. However, the wider application of London-level fines to offences not directly connected to the specific summer parking problem will likely have distorted the results,’ Bosdet said in his letter to the authority.
Luke Bosdet, public affairs officer at the AA told Daily Mail and This is Money that all councils outside London would likely follow suit if the DfT allows for the higher parking PCNs to be enforced. This will trigger ‘the dam holding parking fines to a reasonable level to burst’, he said
Bosdet also pointed out that the request to increase fines is not targeted to ‘rogue parking problem areas’ but instead applies widely and at all times, not just peak visitor periods during the summer when holidaymakers and sun worshipers flock to Dorset beaches
Increases to parking fines and residents’ permits
London parking penalty charges were hiked last April by Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, with the cost of PCNs increased by £30.
Band A areas (higher-level charges) went up from £130 to £160, while Band B areas rose from £110 to £140.
The change comes off the back of a request by London Councils – who represent the capital’s local authorities collectively – to stop ‘anti-social and obstructive parking’ in the city.
Elsewhere, Bath and North East Somerset Council has confirmed this week that it will press ahead with further consultation on plans to introduce vehicle size-based charges for residents’ parking permits.
The move would mean owners of large SUVs could pay more than those with small hatchbacks, with the tiniest motors also receiving discounts.
Under the proposals, a vehicle’s dimensions would be measured in square metres by multiplying its length by its width, excluding wing mirrors, with 11 different charging bands in total.
The smallest cars, measuring up to five square metres, would qualify for a £20 discount on a first permit, while the motors with the largest surface areas of more than 14 square metres would face a maximum extra charge of £112.08 for a first permit and £308.22 for a second permit.
According to the council’s public consultation on the size-based charges, 50 per cent of residents supported the policy while 44 per cent opposed.