A law to end the immoral practices of private parking firms which have plagued Perth is set to be backed this year.
Firms will be forced to sign up to a code of conduct under the Parking (Code of Practice) Bill, which cleared its first major parliamentary hurdle yesterday and has cross-party support.
It would see rogue operators who use unscrupulous practices to prise cash from drivers punished by an independent regulator.
The legislation passed its first hurdle on Friday and is now destined to make it onto the statue books when a final vote is held later in the year.
The private member’s bill, which has the support of ministers, was hatched by members of the cross-party House of Commons rock band MP4, which includes Perthshire MP Pete Wishart.
Mr Wishart said: “Private parking companies have simply become a curse to so many of our communities and they are out of control in so many areas.
“They are a blight on communities, harassing motorists and driving tourists away from so many of our towns and city centres.
“The city of Perth is simply plagued with these cowboys.”
The SNP MP described Smart Parking, the operator of the Kinnoull Street car park in Perth, as the “John Wayne of all these cowboys”.
“This company distributes fines like confetti and their so-called smart technology seems almost designed to frustrate and harvest fines from motorists,” he said.
The rogue tactics that the bill targets include poor and misleading signage, unreasonable terms, excessive fines, aggressive payment demands and a murky appeals process.
Sir Greg Knight, the Conservative MP who is the private member’s bill’s main sponsor, said responsible private parking firms had nothing to fear, but the clamp-down was vital to protect motorists.
Those who flout the rules, which have still to be agreed, will be banned from accessing DVLA data, which would effectively force rogues out of the industry.
Analysis by the RAC found private parking tickets are being issued at the rate of 17,137 a day in the UK, which is the equivalent of 12 every minute.
Independent parking companies are said to make about £100m a year from fining drivers.
Mr Wishart insists the law to apply in full across the whole of the UK.
Murdo Fraser, the Conservative MSP in Perthshire, said be backed the Westminster version but was putting forward his own proposals to Holyrood.
“In Scotland, companies are regulated differently and it remains to be seen how this bill will affect Scottish parkers,” Mr Fraser said.
A spokesman for Smart Parking said they are “fully behind” the idea of a single code of practice.
“We will continue to work with the British Parking Association and other industry leaders to make it happen,” he said.
The spokesman added they have repeatedly tried to meet with Mr Wishart to discuss concerns.
“We have even offered to pay his expenses, but each time there has been no response to our offer,” he said.
“On the one occasion we arranged a meeting with Mr Wishart in Perth and he cancelled the meeting with us.”