Leeds car parks: Residents on clamping and 'punitive' charges amid fears of staggering 14.5m fines

Leeds locals have given their opinion on how fair parking fines are. According to RAC analysis of the latest government data, private parking firms are on course to issue a record 14.5m tickets to drivers this year.

In the first half of the 2024/25 financial year, car park management companies made 7.2m requests to the DVLA for vehicle keeper details - the equivalent of 41,000 a day and a 12% increase on the same period 12 months before (6.5m).

The RAC say if this trend continues when figures for the second half of the year are published, nearly 14.5m drivers will have been sent £100 parking charge notices for alleged parking contraventions, equating to £1.4bn.

Where are the worst places to park in Leeds? Are charges too expensive? Have your say and get involved in our comments section.

We took to the streets of Leeds to gauge public opinion on car parking charges. Here’s some of the reactions, which you can watch in the video, above. One man said: “Parking charges are verging on the punitive, and I guess all I can say about it is that it's working. I am being deterred from driving in cities, I start thinking about taking the train or the bus instead. It's not quite as convenient, but it does get you thinking.

“Until we have the revolution in transport, whereby we simply order up a car on a phone app, which automatically comes to us and then takes us to where we need to go. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in.”

Another member of the public said: “A friend of mine, he got clamped, and he says, look, this is for theatrical purposes. I've got stuff in the van, I'm not parking here all night, and he managed to get away with it. But talking his way out of it, being an actor, he could talk a good talk. But all the same, it was unfairly clamped, so I guess there are some unfairly getting parking fines, yes.”