From next month no parking fine if you overstay by just 10 minutes

• Drivers complain about being hit with a penalty just as their ticket expires
• Motorists will be given a 10-minute leeway before being fined in council-owned car parks in England
• CCTV camera cars that automatically issue fines are to be made illegal too
• Eric Pickles and Patrick McLoughlin promising to end ‘war on the motorist’
• Drivers will have the right to a ‘grace period’ in all on-street or off-street council parking places

The measure will be viewed by many as a sweetener for Britain’s estimated 30 million drivers ahead of May’s general election. The new rules will apply to cars parked in pay-and-display bays or other spaces with time limits.

CCTV camera cars that automatically issue parking fines are to be made illegal, except near schools, in bus lanes and on red routes.

The Local Government and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said ‘war on the motorist must end’. The ministers said in a joint statement: ‘Local residents and businesses will be able to demand a review of parking in their area, including charges and the use of yellow lines. Parking adjudicators will be able to hold councils to account so they can look to change signs and stop charging fines in areas where parking tickets keep being issued.

‘We are bringing back common sense.

‘Very soon shoppers and drivers will also benefit from ten minute “grace periods” for council-controlled parking, whether it’s on or off-street, paid or free. It means you won’t get fined for being a few minutes late. We’re also ending the industrial use of CCTV spy cars to enforce on-street parking.’