Premier Park issued this statement following the Daily Echo's investigation into parking fines:

“Premier Park Ltd operates at over a 1,000 locations for a wide range of clients ranging from private landlords to national organisations. As well as parking enforcement we operate a large number of Pay & Display car parks along with services such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition Systems (ANPR) and Barrier installations. We are also long term members of the British Parking Association (BPA) and comply fully with the Approved Operators Scheme (AOS).

As a company we have welcomed and embraced the changes to the private parking sector which we believe will bring clarity to parking on private land. These changes will also ensure motorists are clear on where they can & cannot park and the action they can expect to face if they do not observe the relevant terms & conditions for parking on private land and if they receive a Parking Charge Notice (PCN).

The three main parts of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Bill which came into force on the 1st October 2012 are that the clamping & removal of vehicles on private land without lawful authority is now a criminal offence. Lawful Authority may exist on areas such as railway stations and some local authority land. The ban does not apply to bailiffs and the DVLA licensing unit.

The second important piece of legislation is the provision, from 1st October, of an Independent Appeals Service (IAS). Essentially this means if an individual has received a parking charge from a parking operator and appeals their ticket, via the parking operators own appeals process, and they uphold the parking charge and therefore reject the appeal, then the individual has the right to take their appeal to this independent adjudication service. Certain criteria apply to this process and the person appealing does lose the right to any discounted payment period should they lose this independent appeal.

The third main point is that from the 1st October, under certain defined circumstances as set out in schedule 4 of the Act, the Registered Keeper of the vehicle can be liable for the charge if they fail to, or, are unable to name the driver of the vehicle and provide a serviceable postal address for the driver.

All of these changes can only enhance the private parking industry and ensure that there is more clarity and accountability for all private parking operators, but also stringent guidelines and supporting mechanisms within which to operate. Premier Park welcomes any positive change to our industry that supports us in demonstrating that the parking industry can be professional & accountable whilst still being able to protect our client’s properties from unauthorised parking.”