Frequently Asked Questions

Pavement Parking
It is an offence for a person, without lawful authority or excuse, to wilfully obstruct the passage along the highway. This applies to vehicles obstructing pavements and would normally be dealt with by a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Workmen Parking
Workers wishing to park on restricted areas to carry out work should contact the senior traffic warden at the relevant police station. The placing of buckets, barrows and ladders in the road to reserve a parking space may constitute an obstruction of the highway and is not a lawful method of restricting parking or reserving a parking place.

Parking at Night
During the hours of darkness, vehicles which are goods vehicles no more than 1525kg unladen weight or passenger vehicles with less than eight passengers, excluding the driver, may be parked with their near side to the kerb. The vehicle cannot be parked within 10 metres of a junction. Exceptions to parking nearside to the kerb at night are:

• In a one way street, in which case vehicles can park on either side of the road, if parking is allowed
• With the permission of, or directed by, a police officer

If a vehicle is parked on a road which does not have a 30mph speed limit, parking lights must be used. Any road which has street lighting no more than 200 yards apart, unless otherwise shown, will be a 30mph speed limit.

Goods Vehicles
A vehicle over 7.5 tonnes may park on the highway provided:

• It does not cause an obstruction or other offence
• Its lights are lit during the hours of darkness

It is an offence for a goods vehicle over 7.5 tonnes to park on the verge of a road, or a central reservation or footway unless instructed to do so by a police officer as a result of an emergency, or for unloading where there is no other place to unload and the vehicle is not left unattended at any time.

You or the undertaker should contact your local police station. Where possible we will always try to assist and use cones to cordon off a section of road for funeral cars. If possible, we will try to put out cones in the early hours of the morning when the roads are clearer, but if vehicles are parked and the roadside is congested we may wait until later, when cars have moved away.

If the vehicle is causing an obstruction you should call us on 0845 600 5701 and we will check whether the vehicle is stolen or not. If necessary we will send an officer.

Please note: In normal circumstances this is not an emergency and therefore it may take some time for the officer to attend. In the meantime, try to trace the owner of the vehicle by making local enquiries with your neighbours, etc.

As the vehicle is on private land, it is for you (or the owner of the land) to resolve the issue. The following suggestions may help you:

• Make local enquiries to see if you can trace the driver or get information about when the vehicle was left.
• You may be able to arrange for its removal by contacting the local authority. There may be a charge for this service which you could claim from the owner if he or she can be traced.
• Seek legal advice from your solicitor or from your local Citizen's Advice Bureau.