Parking fines (penalty charge notices)

Parking fines are charged at 2 rates depending on how serious they are:

• £70 higher charge
• £50 lower charge

If you pay a parking fine within 14 days of the date it was given to you, you will get a 50% discount.

Our civil enforcement officers (CEOs) are employed to enforce parking, traffic and other restrictions and laws.

They can issue a PCN at the time when a parking regulation is broken, or at a later date by post.

We will not tolerate physical or verbal abuse towards CEOs. We will report any aggressive incidents to the police.

If you own a vehicle you are legally responsible for any parking fines, even if you were not driving when the PCN was given.

You are legally the owner of a vehicle if:

• you are the registered keeper who looks after it
• it is registered under your name at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)

Exceptions to this include when a vehicle:

• is on hire to someone and you have a signed hire agreement
• has been taken without your permission and you have a crime reference number

If you ignore or do not pay a parking fine we can ask the DVLA to give us details of the registered owner of the vehicle.

The debt could then escalate to being registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court and be passed to an enforcement agent.