Seven popular cars banned from car parks over new ‘length rule’

Drivers of seven popular cars from best selling makers including BMW, Kia and Mercedes have been warned they are now banned from parking in public car parks.

That’s because of a little known length rule governing car parking spaces. Autocar reported that it has had it in writing from five local councils that vehicles too long to fit into their spaces are now officially banned from parking in any of their council-run car parks.

Any vehicle longer than five metres can no longer park in their car parks, which have a parking bay length which tops out at 4.8 metres.

Cars have only got bigger and larger over the years which poses a problem when councils will hit drivers with fines if their vehicles don't fit into parking bays.

New Forest Council explains: "The standard parking space has remained at a consistent size for several decades. However, national research has shown that on average, cars have got larger over time, both in width and in length.

"In 1965 the top five models sold in the UK had an average width of 1.5 m and average length of 3.9 m, compared to an average width of 1.8 m and length of 4.3 m for the top five sellers of 2020."

Some of the best selling vehicles which would be affected include a Mercedes S-Class, Tesla Model S, BMW 7 Series, Range Rovers, the Audi A8 and the Kia EV9 as well as a Rolls Royce Cullinan, but there are others including high end sports car which would also be barred.

An FOI request from Autocar was sent to every council in the UK to ask if they planned to extend parking bays to accommodate for longer cars which are now commonplace on British roads, as many haven’t been updated for decades.

Five local authorities - Wokingham, South Hampshire, Broadland, South Suffolk and West Devon - told Autocar they had effectively banned any cars which don’t fit into their spaces.

Wokingham Council provided the details of the FOI on its website.

It was asked: " a) Are cars exceeding a certain length banned from any of your car parks?"

To which the council replied: "We have a limit on size of vehicle and weight of vehicle allowed to use the car parks these were introduced at different dates as shown below.

"Since June 2023 All motor vehicles whose maximum length does not exceed 5,00 metres and overall height exceeds 2.10 metres and whose gross weight does not exceed 3050 kilogrammes, except for access."