A man from Gerrards Cross who was pursued by a private parking company for an alleged violation last year has launched a House of Commons petition to protect motorists against the 'unfair' system.

Stanley Luckhurst, 85, was taken to court by Excel Parking after leaving his car in an electric vehicle bay for 20 minutes while visiting Uxbridge last year.

He claimed that the poor visibility of an underground car park meant he hadn't seen the relevant signage, and Excel's claim was overturned by the Royal Courts of Justice.

The legal case brought the "unfair charges and claims" afflicting the parking industry to Mr Luckhurst's attention, however, and he has since made it his mission to stop "cowboy" private parking companies from targeting his fellow motorists.

The 85-year-old's most recent campaign has been against the introduction of a new industry Code of Practice announced by the British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC) last month, which will be brought in ahead of government-mandated regulation.

The announcement also sparked opposition from head of policy at the RAC, Simon Williams, who said he was “flabbergasted” by the BPA and IPC’s decision after their long-held opposition to the government code.

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The single code, which will be published in full next month, includes an Appeals Charter with “clear” parameters for motorists to appeal against charges and a 10-minute grace period for parking violations.

According to Mr Luckhurst, however, there are many other “important issues” that it does not address.

The 85-year-old has responded by launching a House of Commons petition for the immediate reintroduction of a Government Parking Code of Practice, including “a cap on penalty charges, a curb on aggressive collection language and a truly independent appeals system”.

He described the IPC and BPA's code as "anarchy on a grand scale" and "of huge interest to Britain's 35 million frustrated motorists".

Mr Luckhurst’s petition has so far generated 362 signatures. At 10,000, it will warrant a government response and at 100,000, the issue will be considered for debate in parliament.

A spokesperson for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities told the Free Press in April that the IPC and BPA’s code was “a positive step forward”, but that did not lessen the need for a new parking code introduced by the government to ensure the “strengthening of parking regulation".