If a car park is free to shoppers, there has to be a method to prevent commuters from taking advantage by parking there all day and occupying valuable shopper spaces. Limiting the time shoppers are allowed to stay, especially in town centre or industrial areas, where parking abuse is likely with commuters, is a good way of ensuring spaces are reserved for legitimate shoppers only, but this then needs to be enforced.

Similarly, with pay-and-display there has to be something in place to ensure shoppers do not exceed the time on their ticket.

Clamping and parking fines are the most common methods of deterring illegal parking but there has been public concern in the past about rogue operators on private land - car parks not regulated by traffic law, such as shopping centre car parks.

Last year, the BPA launched its Code of Practice for Parking Enforcement on Private Land and Unregulated Car Parks, Part 1: Vehicle Immobilisation or Removal - a model of best practice for individuals or organisations undertaking vehicle immobilisation or removal on private land to ensure it is done in a responsible, effective and efficient manner.

At April's Parkex exhibition, the BPA launched Part 2: Parking Tickets and Notices to Owners on Private Land. From October 2007, the DVLA will release vehicle registration information only to those companies that are members of an accredited trade association. The initiative will prevent motorists from receiving high-priced unregulated tickets.

Kelvin Reynolds, director of technical services at the BPA (the first and only accredited trade association), says: "Landlords and owners of land are entitled to manage their land but they must do it responsibly.

"We must set standards that people operate by. We are doing this to protect the image of parking. Parking enforcement is a legitimate activity and it needs to be protected and as an association we are doing this.

"We set best practice, realistic fees and suggest people have proper information and signs."

At the moment, the Code of Practice is not legally enforced and is instead about industry self-regulation. "It could be adopted by all responsible landowners," suggests Reynolds. "If they only employed enforcers signed up to the code we wouldn't have rogue ticketing."

The BPA is also launching its own Approved Operator Scheme backed by the Code of Practice for Parking Enforcement on Private Land and Unregulated Car Parks. Members that do not comply with the terms of this code could initially have their BPA membership suspended and possibly terminated.

"Many shopping centres provide free parking," says Reynolds, "therefore, enforcement is the only means of ensuring the car park is being used by the people coming into the centre. If the centre is not using a barrier system then how else do they do it?

"Conflict arises when shopping centres are in a town centre. You need to make sure that if you are providing a car park for your shoppers they are using it for that purpose. That is where proper codes of practice will be important. The last thing a retail centre wants is a poor reputation. The push now is to get the code out there. The key message for me is for landowners to adopt it."

A popular method adopted by shopping centres and retail parks is the ANPR system, which can be used to determine whether visitors have overstayed their welcome. It also allows car park owners to dispel with ticketing and clamping on-site.

The Metric Group has recently linked its p&d machines with ParkingEye's ANPR system to enable a fully automated enforcement solution within p&d environments.

When motorists enter their vehicle registration details into the p&d machine, via an alphanumeric keypad, at the time of ticket purchase, this data is then uploaded to Metric's ASLAN central management system and merged with ParkingEye's ANPR data. This provides a complete picture of paid-for parking and actual time spent in the car park. A parking fine is then sent through the post.

Bill Laurie, Metric's sales director, believes this is going to become a common feature in car parks in the future. "Metric is committed to providing the technology and options that the parking market requires," he adds.

ParkingEye's managing director Andrew McKerney says: "The 24/7 nature of parking requires a 24/7 enforcement solution, which is exactly what the ANPR/p&d system provides.

"When compared with the costly and inefficient traditional manned enforcement solutions, this system heralds a new dawn in car park management."

Creative Car Park operates a similar system. Currently operating at the Quadrant shopping centre in Glasgow and Colton retail park in Leeds, among others, the ANPR system operates either on its own, if there is a maximum stay allowance, or can be linked to p&d machines if payment is required. Again, a fine is sent in the post if visitors overstay.

Gary Wayne of Creative Car Park says: "For a shopping centre that wants the first two hours to be free (with payment thereafter), you can link it to pay-and-display machines, in which you can input your registration details. We don't print a ticket so you don't have to go back to your car. You can pay for the parking in the shopping centre itself by going to a payment machine; you can pay by text message or by phone.

"Our clients all notice an increase in their trade. Aldi stores told us that everywhere our system went in, turnover increased by at least 20 per cent, because if people drive past a car park and see it is full, they will drive on. If the car park is empty, then it's a good time to shop.

"The beauty of our system is we don't charge to install it so for the retail or managing agents, it's a free service. We make our income from the offenders."

Tony Goddard, head of parking services at the Legion Group points out that where decriminalised parking enforcement for on-street parking has been introduced, the abuse has moved to car parks, such as those attached to shopping centres.

"With the introduction of decriminalised parking, people who used to get away with illegal parking are now looking for other places to park, for example, the shops," says Goddard.

He explains Legion is currently offering to manage retail car parks and reduce the number of non-customers parking on-site. "We do that by patrolling the car parks, capturing all the details of the vehicle and working in what the client wants, whether it's a 30-minute stay limit or whatever.

"If a vehicle is in contravention of the rules we will administer a fixed penalty notice."

Town and City Parking has invested heavily in resources and staff training to address the problem of enforcement in retail parks, working closely with owners and tenants to provide a firm but customer-friendly response.

All TCP attendants are trained in how to deal with offenders in an appropriate way, with the company also producing CD presentations to give staff guidance on combining roles of 'policing and diplomacy'.

Bernie Dickson, managing director of TCP, says: "Every site is different, so you have to look at enforcement on a case-by-case basis. Where a site is in a town centre or close to a focal point, such as a railway station or football ground, the problem is predominantly about illegal parking. This can be dealt with via pay-and-display or pay-on-foot schemes, which can offer limited free parking periods on presentation of a ticket endorsed by one of the retail park's tenants (this is the case at The Eagle Centre in Derby).

"In other situations, it may be about drivers parking for convenience in restricted areas, such as loading bays or disabled spaces, in which case, a combination of good, prominent signage and efficient patrolling is the answer."

Contacts

BPA: 01444 447300

Metric: 01793 647800

Creative Car Park: 0870 919 8000

Legion Parking: http://www.legiongroup.co.uk

Town & City Parking: 0845 230 3081

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