Bedford
Bedford Borough Council became a unitary authority on 1st April 2009 when it became responsible for all county services previously undertaken by Bedfordshire County Council in addition to its own district services.
On 7th September 2006, Bedfordshire County Council provided the following information, obtained from Bedford Borough Council.
1. On street parking has a maximum height restriction of 2.8 metres. (Maximum width of 1.8m and maximum length of 5.3m.). Off street surface car parks have no height restriction, Multi storey's range from 6' 3" to 6' 10" so all effectively preclude motor homes/caravans.
2. On street parking within the controlled parking zone 'CPZ' has a maximum vehicle length of 5.3m (see Bedford Borough Council web site, link below) - Where a vehicle has a trailer/caravan this becomes one vehicle restricted to 5.3m. The vehicle/combined vehicle must always fit within one bay - purchasing a second ticket for any additional length or for a second bay would not prevent the issue of a penalty charge notice. The requirement for the vehicle/combined vehicle to fit within one bay also applies to all car parks.
3 All car parks have toilets and hand washing facilities, these are provided as normal toilet facilities and not for waste disposal, no sites have specific waste disposal points.
4. There are no spaces specifically aimed at Motor homes or caravans.
5. The traffic regulation order states that 'no person shall use a vehicle while it is in a parking place for sleeping, camping or cooking except where that vehicle is a goods vehicle parked overnight in a parking place designated for that purpose.' Provided that the vehicle fits within a marked parking bay or, on street, is within the specified dimensions it may park overnight, but not be used as described above. Multi storey car parks close at 8pm and do not permit overnight parking.
6. No sites are specifically restricted by narrow roads or entrances.
Note outside the CPZ there are restricted parking areas in such areas the vehicle must always fit within the designated bay.
On 17th March 2008, in response to a follow-up request, Bedford Borough Council stated "The only location a Motorhome would be permitted to park would be Melbourne Street car park. This is our only designated large vehicle / HGV / Coach car park."
Bedford Borough Council have more information on their web site Here.
On 13th March 2009, a request was sent to (the then) Bedfordshire County Council asking if it was possible to park a motorhome at the P&R sites it provides. When the county council ceased to exist it passed the request to Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council. On 17th April 2009, Bedford Borough Council replied:
Bedford's Park & Ride is situated at Elstow. Motorhomes can use Bedford's Park and Ride in the same way as any other single unit vehicle providing the vehicle fits reasonably within the marked bay. There is no height restriction as there are gates rather than a barrier. The Park and Ride is only available between 07.00 and 19.00 Overnight occupation is not allowed by any vehicle. Further details regarding the Park and Ride are available Here.
The following information has been provided by The Parking Shop:
Melbourne Street (MK42) car park is designated as a commercial vehicle car park, only between the hours of 06.30hrs and 20.30hrs. This is under amendment 4 (in 2005) of the 'Off Street Parking Places Order 2003' which changes Melbourne Street CP from its original classification that allowed overnight parking of commercial vehicles. There is currently no designated 'overnight' (20.30hrs to 06.30hrs) goods vehicle parking place in Bedford. In the Parking Places Order 2003, Article 3, 8 (4) (c) states; 'No person shall use a vehicle, while it is in a parking place, for sleeping, camping or cooking, except where the vehicle is a goods vehicle, parked overnight in a parking place designated for that purpose.' Within Bedford's off street parking places, vehicles should not exceed: overall height 2.2 metres, overall length 5 metres and gross weight 2.5 tonnes. Motor homes are not commercial vehicles and may well exceed the specified overall weight, height and length. Melbourne Street car park is designed for daytime occupation by commercial vehicles that would frequently exceed these limits and is therefore the appropriate location for motor homes to be parked unoccupied during the day or occasionally overnight so long as they comply with the terms and conditions board. Charges are for daily use and vehicles should not be left for multiple daily periods.
Central Bedfordshire
Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority which came into being on 1st April 2009. It is responsible for all district services previously undertaken by Mid Bedfordshire & South Bedfordshire District Councils and county services previously undertaken by Bedfordshire County Council.
Central Bedfordshire Council have parking information on their web site Here.
Information presented below obtained in 2006/7/8 was provided by the previous district councils.
Mid Bedfordshire
On 23rd October 2006, Mid Beds District Council made the following statement: "I have been in contact with our Decriminalised Parking Enforcement Officer with your enquiry and have been informed that The Town and Parish Council's are responsible for all car parks within the Mid Beds area."
On 8th October 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council confirmed that this was still the situation.
On 14th January 2007, requests for information were sent to all Mid-Beds Town & Parish Councils which had e-mail addresses displayed on the Bedfordshire County Council web site. Responses can be accessed Here.
South Bedfordshire
On 8th December 2006 South Bedfordshire District Council provided a spreadsheet of car parking information. This can be download in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format from here. See below for update.
N.B. The 4th column of the spreadsheet (Park over 2 bays) was originally headed "Possible (taking into account layout, access and height restrictions) and permitted for oversize vehicles to park over two (or more) bays (ALL BAYS OCCUPIED MUST BE PAID FOR)". The heading was reduced to simplify creation of the pdf version.
On 29th October 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the Council confirmed that the details in the spreadsheet were still correct apart from the following amendments:
Westfield Road Car Park, Dunstable - three hours no return within one hour
Baker Street Car Park, Leighton Buzzard - two hours no return within one hour
Ashton Square Car Park, Dunstable - is no longer a barrier controlled car park and is now a Pay and Display Car Park.
Luton
On 18th October 2006, Luton Borough Council provided the following information:
(1) All of our off-street parking facilities (car parks) have height restrictions. These restrictions prohibit access to any vehicles with a height greater than 1.94m, equivalent of a people carrier.
(2) On-street, the Pay & Display areas are all restricted to a maximum stay (2-3hrs) and most of them are not divided into individual parking places. On those that are (Buxton Road, Gordon Street, Park Street - under the viaduct, Victoria Street) there is no provision for buying multiple Pay & Display tickets and the wheels of the vehicle(s) must be within the bay markings.
There are free bays, but these are also restricted to the amount of time a vehicle can stay in them and the rules regarding being inside the markings still apply.
On unrestricted streets the length of stay is, as it states, unrestricted.
(3) Our Car Parks do not have any toilet/waste disposal facilities.
(4) I am unaware that there are any dedicated sites for motor homes/caravans in Luton. Parking enforcement do not hold this information.
(5) Overnight waiting ban. LBC Parking Attendants do not enforce Overnight waiting bans. Free bays/Pay & Display bays and single yellow lines are enforceable 0800 - 1800 and double yellow lines are enforceable anytime.
(6) Narrow road/entrances. Parking enforcement do not hold this information.
On 9th October 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council confirmed that the information above was still accurate.
Luton Borough Council have details of car parking on their web site Here.
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Last updated: 24 June 2010