Laws you should know

What the lines, signs and bays mean, and the rules that catch motorists out most often.

CCTV evidence

Bus and cycle lanes
When you can and cannot drive, stop or park in bus lanes, cycle lanes and cycle tracks, and how councils enforce them with cameras.
CCTV evidence
When councils in England and Wales can use cameras to issue Penalty Charge Notices by post for parking, bus lanes and moving traffic, and what to do if you get one.
Moving traffic penalties: box junctions, banned turns and bus gates
Which councils in England and Wales can issue penalties for yellow box junctions, banned turns, bus gates and School Streets, how much they cost, the warning letter and how to challenge one.

Parking on kerbs and pavements
The rules on parking on pavements and verges: banned across London, banned elsewhere only where signed, and the new powers coming for councils in England.
Parking next to a dropped kerb
Why you can get a Penalty Charge Notice for parking next to a dropped kerb even where there are no yellow lines, the exceptions, and the rule on double parking.

Parking bays for specific users
Residents', permit, disabled, loading, car club and electric vehicle charging bays: who may use them, virtual permits, and the penalties for parking in them.
Pay and display parking bays
How to avoid a Penalty Charge Notice in pay and display and pay-by-phone bays: check the signs, display or pay correctly, the 10-minute grace period and no-return rules.
Meter feeding
Why buying more time to stay beyond the time you first paid for can result in a Penalty Charge Notice, and the codes used.
Re-parking in the same bay or set of bays
Why returning to the same bay or set of bays within the no-return time on the signs can result in a Penalty Charge Notice.
Blue Badge parking
Where Blue Badge holders can and cannot park in England and Wales: yellow lines, meters and bays, the blue clock, central London, car parks, misuse and who can get a badge.

Private parking tickets
What a Parking Charge Notice from a private car park operator is, how to tell it from a council Penalty Charge Notice, the most an operator can charge, and who keeps operators in check.
Clamping and towing on private land
Clamping, towing away or blocking in a vehicle on private land without lawful authority has been a crime in England and Wales since 1 October 2012. Who can still clamp or tow, fixed barriers, railway stations, and what to do if it happens to you.
When the registered keeper has to pay a private parking charge
When a private car park operator can make the registered keeper pay a parking charge run up by someone else: the rules in Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the deadlines for the notices, naming the driver, hire cars and the land the rules leave out.
Appealing a private parking charge
How to appeal a Parking Charge Notice from a private car park operator: to the operator within 28 days, then to POPLA or the Independent Appeals Service, with the Appeals Charter, keeping the discount and the evidence to send.
The government's Private Parking Code of Practice
The government's code of practice for private car parks, laid before Parliament on 20 October 2026 and not yet in force: when it is expected to start, what it changes for drivers and what stays the same.

Registered keepers liability
Who has to pay a council Penalty Charge Notice: the vehicle's owner, presumed to be the registered keeper, whoever was driving. And how private parking charges differ.

Urban clearways
What urban clearway signs mean: no stopping at the times shown, except to pick up or set down passengers.
Waiting restrictions - double yellow lines
What double yellow lines mean: no waiting at any time, when you can still stop to load or let passengers in and out, and the Blue Badge rules.
Waiting restrictions - single yellow lines
What single yellow lines mean: no waiting during the times on the sign or zone entry sign, when you can still stop, and the Blue Badge rules.
Bus and cycle lanes
When you can and cannot drive, stop or park in bus lanes, cycle lanes and cycle tracks, and how councils enforce them with cameras.
Parking bays for specific users
Residents', permit, disabled, loading, car club and electric vehicle charging bays: who may use them, virtual permits, and the penalties for parking in them.
Pay and display parking bays
How to avoid a Penalty Charge Notice in pay and display and pay-by-phone bays: check the signs, display or pay correctly, the 10-minute grace period and no-return rules.
Blue Badge parking
Where Blue Badge holders can and cannot park in England and Wales: yellow lines, meters and bays, the blue clock, central London, car parks, misuse and who can get a badge.
Moving traffic penalties: box junctions, banned turns and bus gates
Which councils in England and Wales can issue penalties for yellow box junctions, banned turns, bus gates and School Streets, how much they cost, the warning letter and how to challenge one.