Christmas Parking Traps to Watch Out For

Published: 18 December 2025

The festive season should be about family, food, and bad Christmas jumpers — not parking tickets. But every year, thousands of motorists get caught out by seasonal parking pitfalls. Here's how to avoid them.

Shopping Centre Overstays

This is the big one. Shopping centres with ANPR cameras typically impose a maximum stay of two to three hours. During normal weeks, that's usually fine. But during the Christmas rush — especially on the last few weekends before the 25th — it's incredibly easy to overstay.

Queues are longer. Shops are busier. You bump into someone you know and end up chatting for ten minutes. Before you know it, you've been in the car park for three hours and fifteen minutes, and the ANPR system has already flagged your registration.

The frustrating part? Many shopping centres could easily extend their maximum stay periods during Christmas to accommodate the seasonal rush. Some do. Many don't — because overstay charges are a revenue stream.

If you do get caught, check the signage carefully. Was the time limit clearly displayed? Was there any mention of extended Christmas hours? If the centre extended its opening hours but didn't extend the parking limit, that's a reasonable argument in your appeal.

Temporary Restrictions

Councils love putting up temporary parking restrictions around Christmas — for Christmas markets, light switch-on events, New Year's Eve celebrations, and Boxing Day sales. These are perfectly legal, but they must be properly advertised with temporary traffic orders and clearly signed.

The problem is that temporary signs are often poorly positioned, easily missed, or put up at the last minute. If you parked legally in a spot you've used many times before and then received a PCN because of a temporary restriction, check whether the signage met the legal requirements. A temporary sign that's obscured, facing the wrong way, or only visible after you've already parked is grounds for appeal.

Also worth checking: was the temporary traffic order actually published? Councils are required to advertise these in advance. If they didn't follow the proper procedure, the restriction may not be enforceable.

Hospital Parking Over the Holidays

Visiting someone in hospital over Christmas is stressful enough without a parking charge on top. But hospitals — particularly those managed by private operators — continue to enforce parking limits throughout the festive period, and many visitors aren't prepared for it.

Ward visits can take longer over Christmas. There are fewer staff around to answer questions. You might arrive during visiting hours and stay a bit longer because, well, it's Christmas. The ANPR camera doesn't care about any of that.

If you receive a charge from a hospital car park, check whether the operator is a BPA or IPC member. BPA members are bound by the BPA Healthcare Code, which requires operators to take account of hospital-specific circumstances. A compassionate appeal explaining that you were visiting a sick relative over Christmas, combined with evidence of the visit (appointment letter, ward name, etc.), has a good chance of success.

Boxing Day and Bank Holiday Confusion

Here's a common question: do parking restrictions apply on bank holidays? The answer, as with most things in parking law, is "it depends."

Many council-controlled areas suspend parking charges on bank holidays, including Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day. But not all do. And the suspension may apply to on-street meters but not to council car parks, or vice versa. Always check the specific signage at the location — don't assume.

For private car parks, bank holidays make no difference unless the signage specifically says otherwise. The car park terms are contractual, and they apply regardless of the date unless explicitly stated.

Late-Night Shopping Events

Many town centres and retail parks hold late-night shopping events in December, often extending opening hours until 9 or 10 pm. But parking restrictions don't always extend to match. If the shops are open until 10 pm but on-street parking restrictions end at 6:30 pm (after which different rules may apply), you could inadvertently fall foul of evening loading bans or resident permit zones that kick in outside normal hours.

The safest approach: read the signs, not the shop opening hours. And if you're parking after 6 pm, double-check whether the daytime rules still apply or whether you've wandered into a different restriction period.

What to Do If You Get Caught

If a festive parking charge lands on your doormat in January, don't panic. Check the type of ticket (council or private), note the deadline, and assess your grounds. Seasonal pressures, unclear signage, and extended visits are all valid points to raise — especially if you can back them up with evidence.

Related Guides

• Christmas & Bank Holiday Parking Rules
• Supermarket Parking Fine Appeal
• Hospital Parking Fine Appeal