City of York Council enforces parking restrictions across York. Where a vehicle is parked in contravention of signed restrictions, we may issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
We can only take action where parking restrictions apply, or where a vehicle is blocking a dropped kerb or raised footway.
Some parking issues, such as dangerous parking or serious obstruction, are criminal matters and are the responsibility of North Yorkshire Police.
- Illegal parking
- Report illegal parking
- Dropped kerbs
- Pavement parking and other serious parking offences
Illegal parking
A vehicle may be issued with a PCN if it is parked in contravention of restrictions, including if they are ‘in or adjacent to’:
- yellow lines (waiting restrictions)
- in a disabled bay without displaying a valid Blue Badge
- in a bus stops
- on a taxi ranks
- adjacent to a dropped kerb
- in a resident only parking areas (ResPark zones) without a valid permit
- in an on-street pay and display areas, without displaying a valid ticket or permit
- in Council car parks, without displaying a valid ticket or virtual permit or session
- on school zigzag markings
- in a doctors or other signed parking bays without authorisation
We can issue a parking ticket (penalty charge notice, or PCN) - a parking fine - for each of these offences.
Parking enforcement powers also enable us to issue a PCN if a vehicle is parked across the entrance to your driveway and dropped kerbs, even if there are no yellow lines or H-Bar markings in place.
Report illegal parking
Please be aware that we have limited ability to patrol in areas where there are no restrictions.
Report a problem as soon as possible if you see a vehicle:
- parking illegally
- parked across a dropped kerb
- blocking access to your property
Parking Hotline
To report a vehicle which is parked illegally call our Parking Hotline on telephone: 0800 1381119.
- the parking hotline is free of charge from landlines (and some mobiles - check with your provider)
- details are recorded by an operator and passed to our parking enforcement team
- we aim to respond to all calls within 45 minutes
- the parking hotline operates from 8.00am to 9.00pm, every day
To report an illegally parked vehicle which is causing a serious obstruction or hazard, call the police on 101.
Find out about reporting abandoned vehicles.
Dropped kerbs
We can enforce dropped kerbs even where no restrictions are in place, if a vehicle parks where the pavement, cycle track or verge has been adjusted to assist:
- pedestrians crossing
- cyclists entering or leaving the road
- vehicles entering or leaving the road across a path, cycle track or verge
PCNs for dropped kerb offences
We may be able to issue a PCN in the following circumstances:
- driveways - if a vehicle is parked across a dropped kerb and causing an obstruction to a resident's driveway (we ask the resident before we issue a PCN)
- shared driveways - if a vehicle is causing an obstruction to a shared driveway (access to a public building)and we get a report via our parking hotline number (enforcement officers will use their discretion if approached by the property owner)
- pedestrian dropped kerbs - if a vehicle is causing an obstruction and there is no 'exemption' (such as: emergency services, those alighting and unloading, undertaking building works, road works vehicles and waste collection vehicles)
Pavement parking and other serious parking offences
There are certain serious parking offences that we don't have legal powers to deal with. Contact the Police on 101 for help with:
- dangerous parking
- parking that is causing a serious obstruction
- parked vehicles blocking the footway, verge or preventing passage
These matters fall under police powers.
Contact Norh Yorkshire Police on 101 to report:
- dangerous parking
- serious obstruction
- vehicles preventing safe passage
- immediate hazards
Where there is an immediate risk to safety, call 999.
Please note that obstruction has a high legal threshold. It is not simply inconvenience, the vehicle must be preventing safe passage or creating a genuine hazard. The Police will assess each report against that legal test.