Finding no charge, hassle-free parking is getting to be more and more rare in locations all across the United Kingdom. More and more parking lots are now charging fees for parking in their facilities, whether it be by the hour or by the day. Paying for parking now has become so commonplace, many commuters going out and about have incorporated parking fees into their budgets.
Quite obviously, people expect to have to pay for some parking lots and parking facilities, those well-marked and/or gated areas, commonly seen in larger facilities such as sporting venues, hospitals, entertainment complexes and the like. For this reason, many drivers look for alternative parking areas. Areas close to the facility they wish to visit and that are not specifically monitored. This is often the case on private land. It used to be no real problem doing this, but now, through advanced monitoring methods, this is no longer the case.
Many businesses that have parking now employ private parking companies to regulate the parking in their lots. Many different means of monitoring and regulation are implemented by these companies. One means of doing so is the installation of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.
ANPR cameras are able to keep track of how long a vehicle has been parked in that location. If the parker exceeds the time they paid for, the cameras are able to take photographic evidence of this violation. This can result in the violator getting a parking charge through the mail.
People receiving such charges through the mail need to acknowledge that only police or local authorities can issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). Private parking companies issue PCN’s as well, but their PCN stands for Parking Charge Notice. It looks very similar when someone receives it through the mail, so oftentimes violators feel they are receiving an enforceable fine, which in fact is not the case.
Businesses all across the UK are employing the services of respected powerhouse parking companies like UKPC and private parking approved industry operators MET Parking Ltd. to keep solid regulation on their parking facilities. A few problems business owners encounter with their parking lots include people who park there, taking up valuable parking space while they shop or otherwise go elsewhere, outside of the business they parked at; and minicab drivers, who take up valuable space there as well as they wait for another fare to be called in. These extremely limited spots take away parking from customers who legitimately need these spots to patronize the business the parking is intended for. Regulations are now coming into place, and parking violators are quickly learning that they are going to have to pay.