Parking companies across the UK will have to adhere to a new Code of Practice which has been designed to bring an end to rogue operators and their unscrupulous practices.

The Code has been unveiled by Local Government secretary Robert Jenrick, with one of the main changes that parking companies must give drivers a 10-minute grace period once a ticket has expired. Council car parks in England have had to abide by the 10-minute grace period since 2015, but this is the first crackdown on so-called ‘clock-watching’ firms who earn their commissions by praying on vehicles which are seconds away from seeing their time run out.

“For too long rogue parking firms have operated in an unregulated industry, handing out unjust fines, putting drivers through baffling appeals processes and issuing tickets to motorists who were only seconds late back to their cars,” Jenrick said.

“That's why we've appointed the British Standards Institution to work with consumer groups and industry to write the first ever compulsory Code of Practice for private parking firms.

“The new Code will restore common sense to the way parking fines are handed out, encourage people back onto our high-streets and crack down on dodgy operators who use aggressive tactics to harass drivers.”

Additional measures expected to be added to the code include clamping down on aggressive debt collection behaviours. Companies found to be breaking the code will be penalised by seeing their requests for vehicle-owner details denied by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

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