Parking bay suspension

We’ll suspend the area you’ve requested or an equivalent area nearby, and we’ll notify our enforcement contractor. We put up warning notices around 3 days before the suspension starts – but we can’t guarantee the area will be kept clear.

If there are vehicles parked in the suspended bays, it’s your responsibility to contact us and request enforcement.

The speed of the response will depend on our enforcement officers’ location and when you make the request.

If the vehicle is parked in contravention a penalty charge notice will be issued and if possible the vehicle will be removed. We can’t guarantee that all vehicles will be removed, due to rare circumstances out of our control.

It’s an offence to park in a suspended bay – contravening vehicles may be issued a penalty charge notice (parking fine) or be moved to either an alternative location or our car pound in Edmonton. If you think your vehicle’s been removed or relocated from a suspended bay please see vehicle removal.

The quickest way to request enforcement is by completing our online form. The form goes directly to our enforcement team.

Request enforcement

You can also request enforcement by phone:

• Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm: 020 8356 8290 or 5pm to 7.30pm: 020 8356 7555
• Saturday, 8am to 7pm: 020 8356 7555
• Sunday, 8am to 3pm: 020 8356 7555

• we will need you to submit your application a minimum of 7 working days prior to the suspension start date – suspension requests can only be submitted via our online suspension system. Applications received outside of this 7 day period may still be considered, but you must explain why you’re applying at short notice
• the person or company requesting the suspension(s) is responsible to make sure any vehicles park within the bay limits of the suspended bay
• suspensions will be withdrawn by the council for misuse of the parking bays or unacceptable behaviour towards our staff, contractors and members of the public
• any number of parking bays can be suspended, as long as they are on the same road; where parking suspensions are needed on more than one road, more than one suspension must be requested – an administration fee will apply for each suspension request; the council will only grant suspensions of up to 6 months in duration
• disabled bays (registered and personalised), car club bays, Lime Bike bays, cycle hangers and corrals will only be suspended in exceptional circumstances. If you need to suspend such a bay, you will need to suspend an additional parking space for the bay users. You will also need to cover the costs of the alternative parking space
• amendments and cancellations can be made through your account and these may incur additional costs
• although Parking Services will install appropriate suspension signs, we can’t guarantee that a suspended space will be free and do not accept liability for any additional costs that you may incur due to obstructions
• the council does not issue suspensions for red routes – to obtain information for parking waivers for red routes please contact Transport for London on 0343 222 3333
• charges apply whether a bay is suspended during parking zone hours or not – a parking suspension fee is not dependant on the controlled operational hours of a zone but rather on the sole use of the space

We will discount the cost of the bay fee for up to 3 parking bays on day one of a suspension booked for a domestic removal. Please see examples below:

If more time is required then you’ll need to apply for a suspension or dispensation.

D​​ispensation waivers​ ​are available as an alternative to a suspension. Please note a dispensation waiver will not reserve you a specific space.

Dispensations allow vehicles to park for a limited period of time for specific reasons. They can be used in pay and display bays, shared use bays, permit holder bays residents bays and on single yellow lines.

A suspension temporarily forbids anyone else using a parking bay (or multiple bays) within a controlled parking zone (CPZ). If you need specific spaces reserved, you’ll need to apply for a suspension.

You may be required to provide us with official documentation supporting the need to carry out works in the desired location eg: an invoice for the work being carried out.

If such evidence is required, we will email to request this once the application has been reviewed. We will only use the contact details on your suspension account, it is your responsibility to ensure you respond to our query within a timely manner.

An administration fee of £93.50 is chargeable for each suspension (regardless of the duration and number of spaces required). In addition to this a charge of £41 per space, per day is charged.

If your application is received outside of this 7 day period an additional administration fee of £150 is chargeable for each suspension.

Where not individually marked out, a space is deemed to be a 5m section of parking bay. Suspension charges are non-negotiable.

To reduce impact on local users we encourage shorter stay suspensions.

The Council will suspend the area requested, or equivalent nearby area and will notify our enforcement contractor.

We always try to put up advance warning notices around 3 days before the start of the suspension, however we cannot guarantee that the area will be kept clear. If vehicles are parked in suspended bays, contact the Suspension Team to request their removal. See Removing or relocating vehicles parked in suspended bays – Request enforcement.

We can only enforce on obstructing vehicles if you report them between these times. It’s your responsibility to contact us and request enforcement. The speed of the response will depend on our enforcement officers’ locations and when you make the request. Please note, we cannot always guarantee vehicle removal.

If you use unauthorised spaces you may be subject to enforcement. The Council may issue penalty charge notices (PCNs) and vehicles may be removed or relocated if you do not park within the bays suspended for your use. Hackney Council will pursue additional payment if your equipment or material is found to be occupying additional bays.

Any vehicles that are parked within a suspended bay must either be sign written with the applicant’s logo or company name or a sign showing your company logo must be placed in the windscreen. This will alert civil enforcement officers (often called parking wardens). Failure to do so may result in a PCN being issued and the vehicle removal. Please note subcontractors are also expected to display this sign. We are unable to accept handwritten notes.

If you need to cancel or end your suspension early we will be able to refund you the parking space charges for the period of the suspension you do not require if you can provide at least 3 days’ notice of your intention to finish your suspension early.

You are required to inform us of all cancellations as soon as possible, this will allow us to release the suspended bays back to residents and local motorists.

If you cancel your suspension request before it starts, after the suspension signs have gone up (three to seven days before), we will keep the £93.50 admin fee. For short notice suspensions, we will keep both the £93.50 admin fee and the £150 late fee. We will only refund you the parking bay fee for any unused days.

If your suspension request is still at the ‘approved stage’ and you cancel it before the suspension signs have gone up (three to seven days before your suspension starts), you will receive a full refund.

If you decide to cancel your suspension before the end date, our system will calculate a refund of the parking bay fee for each unused day. We will keep the admin or late fee.

We welcome comments and feedback about the suspensions service.

Please call  the parking suspensions team on 020 8356 8290 or email parkingsuspensions@hackney.gov.uk