by Melanie Denyer

Created on: December 13, 2008

There are various issues with trying to park in the United Kingdom. How they affect people, however, is dependent on whether the driver is a resident of the country or just a visitor, and whether they are living in or visiting a town or a rural area. Each has its own set of problems and, if there's one thing one can consistently say about parking in the UK, forewarned is most definitely forearmed!

Anyone living and driving in London knows the difficulty of finding parking at a sensible cost within half a mile of their destination... and is familiar with the uniformed menace of traffic wardens waiting for them to go over their purchased parking time by so much as one minute. With multi-storey car parks in the West End charging up to thirty or forty pounds per hour, these are barely an option for many people, and even those outside the Congestion Charge Zone often charge ten pounds per hour or more, depending on their location. In short, if you want to visit Central London, avoid coming by car at all costs. If you have no choice, try and park somewhere in the suburbs near a tube station and then use public transport to get about.

Outside of Central London, the situation is slightly better - after all, there's no Congestion Charge - but you cannot always expect to be able to park exactly where you want. London is an old, sprawling metropolis and, while there are wide roads in many places, chances are that shopping streets are either two lanes with no parking, two lanes with limited parking on one side, or pedestrianised with parking somewhere round a one-way system on a back street. Double parking is not even worth thinking about: I've seen vehicles go from parked to towed in less than five minutes. Check your map before you go, or plan your route with the AA's web site where you can request a map that includes the location of car parks both along your route and near your destination.

If you venture outside of London, there are certainly fewer cars on the roads, but parking is not always easy. County towns often have one-way systems where no parking is permitted, and you have to play 'hunt the car park' as you go. Small market towns often pedestrianise their central shopping areas while providing small car parks nearby for shoppers. Villages will usually have a handful of spaces available in the centre, but be careful where you park along country roads. On many of the narrower roads that are barely more than single track lanes, there are often little cut-outs along

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