Transport for LondonChanges to penalty charge notices
LONDON will introduce a two-tier scheme for penalising illegal parking from July 1.
The two-tier scheme, which is being introduced nationwide, is based on the seriousness of the contravention committed.
It will mean that drivers parking at bus stops, on pedestrian crossings, or in the safety zones outside schools will receive a higher penalty than those overstaying at a parking meter.
Other contraventions include wrongly using bus lanes, entering a box junction when exits are blocked and ignoring a no entry sign.
A £120 penalty will be applied to serious contraventions in central London, while lesser contraventions will attract a penalty of £80.
In outer London, the penalty will be £100 and £60.
All penalties will be reduced by 50 per cent if paid within 14 days.
This new system means that motorists who commit minor parking contraventions will pay £20 less than at present.
The introduction of the scheme follows an extensive consultation with the public, motoring organisations and other interested parties, carried out last year by London Councils and Transport for London.
More than 80 per cent of those who responded to the consultation said that acts of illegal parking causing the most disruption, frustration and danger to other road users should be penalised more heavily than others.
Chairman of London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee, Cllr Daniel Moylan, said: 'Ensuring the right balance is struck between being firm and being fair has always been a challenge, but I believe this new two-tier scheme helps us to meet both of these objectives.
'It tackles the concerns of Londoners who feel it is unfair that a motorist overstaying at a parking meter for a few minutes received the same penalty as someone causing gridlock by blocking a busy junction.'
Lorry company operators and drivers breaking the London Lorry Control Scheme will also receive £550 and £120 penalties respectively from July 1.
For further information, visit www.londoncouncils.gov.uk
