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Foreign drivers 'escaping millions in parking fines'
parking ticket London, Portsmouth and Edinburgh were among the areas with the highest value of written-off tickets

Millions of pounds in parking fines have been written off by councils over the last two years because they could not trace drivers of foreign-registered vehicles, figures show.

The unpaid fines were revealed after 20 UK councils and police forces responded to a Freedom of Information request.

Campaign group the Sparks Network said authorities would keep losing money unless the EU shared data.

UK transport minister Mike Penning said it was "a complex area".

But he said the government would do all it could to ensure effective cross-border co-operation.

Transport hubs

All of the 20 councils and police forces that responded had ferry terminals, ports and other major transport hubs near or in their area.

London, Portsmouth, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh were among the areas with the highest value of written-off tickets.

Westminster City Council said that between July 2007 and October 2010, 45,437 tickets issued to foreign-registered vehicles had been written off because the driver could not be traced - with £3.2m still owed.

Lee Rowley, the council's cabinet member for parking, said British taxpayers "could no longer foot the bill for foreign motorists who seem to think the rules of this country do not apply to them".

"We would like to see a more rigorous system put in place to hold these drivers to account and send a clear message that this blatant disregard of the law will not be tolerated," he said.

Portsmouth City Council said between April 2008 and 31 October 2010, £110,965 had been written off in parking fines issued to foreign-registered vehicles.

The council said: "On the expiry of a penalty charge notice (28 days), the DVLA [Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency] will advise registered keeper details and if they are overseas and outside Portsmouth City Council jurisdiction, then Portsmouth City Council cancels or writes off the amount."

Newcastle City Council said £84,470 had been written off in unpaid tickets between April 2008 and 6 December 2010.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh City Council said £233,993 had been written off in the 2008/09 financial year and a further£211,051 between April 2009 and 1 October 2010.

A spokeswoman said there were a "number of reasons why a parking ticket could be written off".
Co-operation call

"It could be because the driver cannot be traced; it could also be because signs or road markings were missing, or it could be because the parking attendant made a mistake during the ticket issue," she said.

Other councils said they either did not hold the details or a search of their records would exceed limits under Freedom of Information Act requests.

Bill Blakemore, director of the Sparks Network, an association of public authorities that campaigns for more effective cross-border traffic enforcement, said local authorities would carry on losing money until the government set up working arrangements with other European countries to share ownership data.

"Councils need to be able to quickly and easily identify foreign vehicle owners through their number plates, as some continental countries already do," he said.

"But so far the Department for Transport has not chosen to co-operate with our EU partners in this way."

Mr Penning said foreign drivers were subject to the same rules as drivers from the UK and must abide by parking rules.

"Local authorities have a range of enforcement options to target the vehicle of any motorist who consistently breaks parking laws and does not pay penalty charges to ensure that payment is secured," the minister said.

"This is a complex area and we will do all we can to ensure effective cross-border co-operation."

My parents live in France, so I guess it would be simple for me to register a vehicle there, as my family are backwards and forwards to France often enough!

Simple but unlawful.

The rule says that if the keeper becomes resident, then the car must be registered here. But if you have an EU car, with a keeper who lives in, say, north America.... well, this is a good, legal and proper plan, as far as I can see.

The rule says that if the keeper becomes resident, then the car must be registered here. But if you have an EU car, with a keeper who lives in, say, north America.... well, this is a good, legal and proper plan, as far as I can see.

Can you say what would be the case if the owner, be it an individual or a company, was resident overseas, but allowed the driver resident in the UK as a named driver on a temporarily imported vehicle? Granted the continuous temporary importing/exporting of vehicles between the countries could become too much of a burden...

Probably not worth it in financial terms unless you intend to commit a lot of parking offences.

The registered keeper ... The keeper

The keeper and the registered keeper are the same person at all times, in this arrangment.

UK residents are not allowed to use a foreign registered vehicle on UK roads. The exception is when a UK resident:

* is employed or self-employed in another EU member state
* uses a EU registered company car temporarily in the UK for business purposes

So there could be some sort of loophole somewhere, but it's just not worth it.

However, it is clear that UK residents may not drive foreign registered cars unless one or other of the two exemptions applies.

EU vehicles brought into the UK can be used for six months in any 12-month period. You do not need to register the vehicle in the UK as long as you can show that the vehicle complies with the registration and tax requirements of its home country.

No. There are other circumstances:

UK residents are not allowed to use a foreign registered vehicle on UK roads. The exception is when a UK resident:

* is employed or self-employed in another EU member state
* uses a EU registered company car temporarily in the UK for business purposes

I don't like that fuzzy definition of "keeper" versus "registered keeper" though. That needs sorting out. Who lets these badly phrased laws get through ...

Fisherman, could you post a link to the DVLA information please (btw, I'm not aruguing with you, just being lazy)

I frequently drive a foreign registered car in the UK, but I am interested in the definition of "UK resident" as applied by the DVLA, since I would say I am not.

A person is ordinarily resident if they are normally residing in the United Kingdom (apart from temporary or occasional absences), and their residence here has been adopted voluntarily and for settled purposes as part of the regular order of their life for the time being. Decisions about whether a person is ordinarily resident will need to be based on all the circumstances of the particular case.

A person can be ordinarily resident in more than one country. The fact that a person might be said to have a home in another country does not mean that they cannot also be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.

If a person lives in the United Kingdom year after year, they should be treated as ordinarily resident here.