Parking

How parking is regulated

Parking and Traffic Enforcement

We enforce on-street parking restrictions across the county and also have powers to enforce certain moving traffic offences. These powers apply throughout the county, except in Plymouth and Torbay.

Our Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) patrol most main roads every day to help keep traffic moving safely and ensure parking regulations are followed.

Traffic Regulation Orders are introduced to address specific traffic-related issues, for example, congestion, air quality, or impact to quality of life to nearby occupiers.

These are written legal agreements developed and approved in consultations with the residents, their councillors, the police and district councils to ensure a safe, free flow of traffic, to address the issues and improve the circumstances via effective parking management.

Devon County Council is a member of the Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London (PATROL) Adjudication Joint Committee. PATROL provides information about parking tickets, how to pay them and how to challenge them.

Your Responsibilities as a Driver

When using the road network, it is your responsibility to:

  • Follow all parking and traffic restrictions.
  • Check for signs and markings before parking.
  • Pay for parking where required.
  • Make sure any digital parking session or permit is valid.
  • Clearly display any physical ticket or permit as required.

Failure to comply with parking or traffic restrictions may result in a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) being issued.

If you are unsure where to park:

Waiting and parking regulations are enforced through traffic regulation orders (TROs).

Annual Reports & Statistics

Since April 2014 Devon County Council has provided an in-house on-street service, you can find out how our service has performed and how the revenue raised has been used in the reports below:

The way money is spent is agreed annually by the Cabinet and is published in our County Road Highway Maintenance Revenue Budget and On-street Parking Account.

Statistics

We publish our parking ticket statistics showing how many tickets have been issued in each town. These figures are always published in arrears.

Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs)

Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs), often known as traffic wardens, help enforce parking and moving traffic restrictions under the Traffic Management Act 2004.

When We Patrol

Most enforcement takes place between 8am and 6pm, but some restrictions apply at all times. To ensure these are enforced, CEOs may patrol between 6am and 8pm, with additional visits outside these hours when needed. Seasonal Variations also apply during summer months where enforcement hours may be extended beyond 10pm.

Extra patrols may be carried out to:

  • Enforce resident permit parking schemes
  • Support event parking plans
  • Respond to reports and complaints
  • Address overnight parking issues in areas with 24-hour restrictions

What CEOs Do

CEOs patrol:

  • Streets with pay-and-display parking
  • Double yellow lines and other parking restrictions
  • Some off-street car parks, such as Stover Country Park
  • Review CCTV caught contraventions

They check whether vehicles are parked correctly and may issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) if a vehicle appears to be parked in breach of local traffic regulation orders.

What CEOs Cannot Enforce

CEOs have limited powers when it comes to vehicles parked on pavements or verges, and they cannot remove vehicles.

When a vehicle is blocking a private driveway:

  • We can issue a PCN if it prevents a resident from leaving their property.
  • We cannot issue a PCN if it only prevents a resident from entering their property.

When to Contact the Police

The police have powers to deal with:

  • Vehicles causing an obstruction
  • Dangerous parking
  • Removing offending vehicles where appropriate

Reporting an Abandoned Vehicle

If you believe a vehicle has been abandoned, first check whether it has valid tax and an MOT using the GOV.UK vehicle checker.Check if a vehicle is taxed – GOV.UK

If the vehicle has neither tax nor an MOT, responsibility for its removal rests with the local District or City Council. Check their websites for a report an abandoned vehicle form and use GOV.UK to inform the DVLA.

Challenging a Parking Ticket

Once a PCN has been issued, a CEO cannot cancel or withdraw it.

If you believe the ticket was issued incorrectly, you must submit a challenge in writing. Details of how to do this can be found on the back of the PCN and submitted at Parking Tickets – Penalty Charge Notice | Devon County Council

Zero tolerance – abusive or aggressive behaviour

Civil enforcement officers (CEOs) have a difficult but important job in ensuring the highway is clear and safe for all users. Whilst we appreciate nobody wants to receive a PCN fine, nevertheless our staff still deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect.

At Devon County Council, we have an Unacceptable Behaviour policy. This means that inappropriate, aggressive or violent behaviour towards any of our staff will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Our CEOs and other officers with public facing roles now wear body cameras for their protection. These devices will be activated if that officer feels that a situation is escalating and that behaviours towards them is no longer acceptable.

We understand that you may not agree with our enforcement, however, we feel sure that you will understand that unacceptable behaviour is not the solution. If you have feedback on the conduct or behaviour of a team member please let us know.

Anyone demonstrating these behaviours towards any of the Parking Enforcement team or Parking Appeals team staff may be sent a letter advising that this behaviour will not be tolerated. Any future violation of this policy will result in the police being informed.

Report a parking problem or request parking enforcement

You can now report concerns about a parking problem or request parking enforcement using our online service.

Please be advised that we do cannot offer a callout response service, if an officer is currently working in the area they will be asked to visit during their patrol.  All requests and information we receive is used by the local managers when planning future patrols and enforcement times.

Parking services privacy notice

Devon County Council (DCC) will act as a ‘data controller’ for any personal data that you provide to us via an appeal against a PCN or parking permit application. As such, we will ensure that the data given us is processed in line with our organisation’s data protection policies and in line with your rights under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulations. To find out more about how DCC will use your personal data, you can read our Parking services privacy notice.