The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Euro Car Parks over whether drivers can fairly be ticketed while queuing for or using petrol forecourt services. Emma Cochrane said parking companies must treat motorists fairly at all stages, and the case will run as an evidence-gathering investigation until Spring 2027.
The CMA said the probe covers tickets issued while drivers are waiting for petrol pumps and while using other forecourt services, including car washes. It is also examining Euro Car Parks' appeals process, including whether extra fees are being added on top of parking charges.
Emma Cochrane on consumer law
Cochrane, the CMA's executive director of consumer protection, said receiving a parking ticket could be a stressful experience. She said, "Costs are high and often unexpected which is difficult when people are budgeting carefully," and added, "Parking companies must treat motorists fairly at all stages – and a clear and consistent appeals process must be at the heart of this."
She also said, "It's time for all private parking operators to comply with consumer law or risk action from the CMA." The regulator said it had written to the private parking sector as a whole and had issued warnings to some individual operators about their practices.
Euro Car Parks facilities
Euro Car Parks has more than 3,000 facilities across the UK and Ireland, and says more than two million cars park in its spots every day. That scale means a ticketing practice at forecourts can reach drivers who are not treating the site like a normal long-stay car park, including people stopping only to charge electric vehicles or put air in their tyres.
The CMA said motorists have complained about unclear signage, faulty apps and broken ticket machines. Some drivers have also reported tickets for overstaying while getting fuel, which puts the company's ticketing rules and appeals process under the same scrutiny as the charges themselves.
Spring 2027
RAC research cited by the found parking tickets in places like gyms, supermarkets, restaurants and retail parks had more than doubled in six years to 14.4 million. The CMA's case now runs alongside that wider concern, but the immediate question for drivers is whether charges issued at petrol forecourts were applied and appealed in a way that consumer law allows.
For motorists who received a petrol forecourt ticket from Euro Car Parks, the practical issue is not just the charge itself but whether the signage, the appeals route and any extra fees were handled fairly. The investigation is set to continue until Spring 2027, keeping those ticketing rules under review for the next stage of the CMA's crackdown.
