Sleeping in Car at Car Park

ym_21

Thinking of driving to London for a couple of nights and hoping to save money so no hotel.

Is it illegal to park my car in a car park (£7 overnight) and sleep in my car?

bigjl

London can be a strange place.

Depends what carpark you are talking about.

It may be against the terms and conditions of the carpark.

I would personally just book a Formula 1 of Ibis in advance.

The ones near M25/A13 area are cheaper than some. The Formula 1 in Barking by the A406 is also fairly cheap.

skivenov

I suppose the two main problems are car park terms, and, if someone takes offence, getting nicked for vagrancy.

That said, I've slept in the van often enough when I've been working down there .

Aretnap

There's a reasonable chance of getting a knock on the windscreen at 3am from a copper who wants to breathalyse you. Don't risk being caught drink in charge, even if you have no intention of driving.

Assuming you're sober it's not generally illegal to sleep n a car, though some car parks may not allow it. Just don't expect a good night's sleep - speaking from experience.

nash1977

You could try a london university car park as they are not manned at night and are free at that time

Netwizard

Nights in cars are bloomin' cold, cramped and generally horrible!

Considering the carpark is £7, and a Travelodge / F1 type place is usually £25-£30 a night, seriously, spend the extra few quid and get a hotel room

Mark_Mark

Aretnap wrote: »

There's a reasonable chance of getting a knock on the windscreen at 3am from a copper who wants to breathalyse you. Don't risk being caught drink in charge, even if you have no intention of driving.

Assuming you're sober it's not generally illegal to sleep n a car, though some car parks may not allow it. Just don't expect a good night's sleep - speaking from experience.

There's no offence if that's the case.

bsms1147

Mark_Mark wrote: »

There's no offence if that's the case.

How about the offence of being drunk and in charge of a motor vehicle?

Mark_Mark

bsms1147 wrote: »

How about the offence of being drunk and in charge of a motor vehicle?

If you actually knew what you were talking about, you wouldn't need to ask.

pogofish

Mark_Mark wrote: »

There's no offence if that's the case.

Proving the lack of intention to drive soon might be a toughie though - Best keep the keyholder sober if you do this.

pogofish

ym_21 wrote: »

Thinking of driving to London for a couple of nights and hoping to save money so no hotel.

Is it illegal to park my car in a car park (£7 overnight) and sleep in my car?

Depends where you park.

Royal Parks got an amendment a while back that allows them to control overnight sleeping in all sorts of ways. I think this also extends to the City of Westminster - or they have enacted near identical byelaws. Some other Boroughs may do same but the only one I can find quickly is Barking/Dagenham.

Council car parks controlled under the civil post-91 legislation generally have a prohibition on overnight sleeping as part of their standard TRO wording - again that is enacted on a car park by car park basis but virtually every London Authority now uses these regs and you would be looking at a parking ticket scenario and central London boroughs do patrol 24/7 now - the days where the patrollers all knocked-off at six are long gone.

Private car parks may exclude overnight sleeping in the T&Cs and may also have the prohibition set in their planning conditions - again, a civil matter, not criminal but a decent enough excuse to wake you up and tell you to shift.

Motorhome forums may turn-up some useful info but remember the basic mantras - "Park late, leave early!" and "Sorry officer - I've been driving for ages and just needed a few hours till I was fit to move again" - And don't park in the same area the next night.