'Unfair' and 'unlawful' parking fine system should be overhauled

The parking fine system should be overhauled to eliminate unfair and often unlawful issuing of punishments, according to campaigners.

The London Motorists' Action Group, Drivers' Alliance and The Motorists' Legal Challenge Fund have issued a joint manifesto that says that any profit made from fines should go to the Treasury, not local councils. It also calls for parking restriction road signs to be simplified and a reduction in the number of mobile CCTV units used for enforcement.

The group also says that some of the paperwork involved with the system is, "a shambles and at worse illegal". It suggests that councils should pay compensation for parking fines that are wrongly issued or not contested when the driver takes the case to appeal.