New, improved enforcement on parking offences

Improvements to the way parking services are managed will make the system fairer, East Sussex County Council has said.

They will include a new two-tier system of fines to make the roads safer by deterring motorists from committing more serious offences which could cause harm to others, like parking on double yellow lines.

The county council will also be able to act against more offences where it manages parking, such as parking on zebra crossing zig-zags.

Councillor Matthew Lock, the council's lead member for transport and environment, said, "We will now be able to issue penalties that fit the offence, rather than have a one-size-fits-all approach.

"That means that if someone parks in a disabled bay or on double yellow lines, then they will pay the higher fine.

"However, if someone's pay and display ticket runs out, they will pay the lower fine, which is a much fairer way of dealing with very different situations.

"This new system will make parking schemes everywhere more fit for their purpose, which is to reduce congestion and free up parking spaces for those who really need them."

East Sussex County Council will introduce the new charges as part of a national overhaul of parking rules.

The fine for lesser offences will be 50 instead of the present 60.

More serious penalties will go up by 10 to 70.

All the fines will be halved if paid within 14 days, as they already are.

In certain circumstances there will no longer be a need for a PenaltyCharge Notice to be placed on a vehicle, or handed to a driver in order for it to be properly served as the new rules allow the PCN to be posted to the registered keeper of the vehicle.

The new regulations require improved training for employees involved in parking enforcement and councils to be more open and transparent about parking policies, carry out regular reviews of those policies in consultation with stakeholders and to communicate these policies effectively.

Independent adjudicators will have increased powers to refer appeal cases about PCNs back to local authorities when they consider that the council should have used its discretion to cancel the penalty charge earlier.