Will a new code end 'rip-off parking charges'?

"I was completely on edge, every single day," said Rosey Greenwood. "I had letters coming through - I had debt collectors after me."

Two years ago, Rosey was being told to pay £1,906 because she had taken too long to pay for parking.

Rosey had paid every single time she parked at the Copeland Street car park in Derby, and had bank records to prove it. But Rosey had unknowingly broken the car park's terms and conditions, which stipulated that drivers must pay within five minutes of entering.

Rosey could not afford to pay £1,906 - she was due to get married and also saving up to buy her first home.

As she prepared to fight the case in court, her fiance emailed the BBC and asked us to "shed some light" on what was happening.

The case was then raised in Parliament, external by Derby North MP Catherine Atkinson, who described the charges - which had caught out countless other motorists - as a "five-minute rip-off charge".

The parking sector subsequently banned the five-minute payment rule by updating its code of practice, external, but the government is going further by bringing in a statutory Private Parking Code of Practice.

"These charges leave people feeling ripped off and out of pocket, so I'm putting a stop to them," Prime Minister Andy Burnham said, external on Monday.

But will the new code actually put the brakes on "rip-off" parking charges?

The government's new Private Parking Code of Practice was laid out in Parliament on Tuesday.

It sets out standards that parking operators must follow.

Housing and communities minister Florence Eshalomi said, external the new code "will give drivers a range of rights and protections to make these unfair practices a thing of the past".

The code is now subject to a 40-day period of parliamentary scrutiny, during which MPs and peers can object before it is formally issued.

The code will then come into force 21 calendar days from the point of issue.

In places, the code appears to be very similar to the private parking sector's existing code of practice, external.

For example, Eshalomi said drivers would "now have a guaranteed minimum five minutes to decide whether to park", known as the consideration period.

However, the sector's code already gives drivers a minimum consideration period of five minutes, so this does not appear to be new.

The government's code also gives drivers a 10-minute grace period, external in which to leave a car park following the end of their permitted stay.

However, the sector's code already gives drivers a 10-minute grace period, so this does not appear to be new either.

The government's code sets the maximum parking charge at £100, or £60 if paid within a fortnight. This is also the same as in the sector's code.

The government's code states charges should be reduced to £20 on appeal, external under four circumstances: not displaying a parking permit despite having a valid one, entering the wrong vehicle registration into a parking machine, not entering a registration at all, and not displaying a Blue Badge despite having one.

The sector's code already said charges should be reduced to £20 under those circumstances.

Parking operators will also still be allowed to add a £70 debt recovery fee, external to each parking charge if drivers do not pay, as well as court fees and legal costs.

The government code states parking charges should be cancelled on appeal where the driver or a passenger in the vehicle suffers the onset of illness, where the driver or a passenger is delayed by an overrunning medical appointment, where the driver suffers delays due to childcare arrangements, and where a vehicle is broken down.

In contrast, the sector's code said these charges should be reduced to £20.

The government's code says parking operators who do not comply will lose access to DVLA vehicle keeper data, meaning they will no longer be able to issue parking charges.

This is meant to happen already, because parking operators need to be members of one of two trade associations in order to access DVLA data, and they can theoretically lose their membership if they break the rules.

Campaigners claim this has not happened in practice, but the government insists it will happen in future.

There will also be what the government describes as a "fully independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board".

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, said the benefit of the new code was that it was backed by the government, rather than the parking sector itself.