Motorists could soon be forced to pay parking charges based on the weight of their vehicles across UK cities, according to a leading expert.

Peter O’Drsicoll, Managing Director of parking service RingGo, warns how heavy vehicles could soon form a “wider part of the price” drivers pay.

The news will be a blow to owners of SUVs such as Land Rover models which have surged in demand on the forecourt in recent years.

Peter’s prediction comes after a recent crackdown on heavier vehicles by local authorities across the country.

It also comes just days after locals in Paris voted to triple parking charges for heavier vehicles in a major referendum.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Peter said: “Cars in the UK are increasingly exceeding road sizing and parking bay dimensions.

“This so-called ‘auto-obesity’ means that there are already more than 150 car models that are too big for UK parking spaces.

“Parisians recently voted in favour of hiking parking fees for large SUVs by threefold, to 18€ (£15) per hour for parking in the city centre, as the French capital presses on with long-term plans to become a fully bikeable city.

“To ensure our cities maintain liveable we need to strike a balance between the environment and road management.

“Although there are existing emissions-based parking and road rules in the UK, we have been seeing the introduction of higher parking resident permit costs for heavier EVs in Islington, and the weight of vehicles could form a much wider part of the price we pay to park a car in our cities in the future.”

Motorists wishing to park their electric vehicles in Islington are charged higher rates based on the size of their battery.

Owners with a small EV fitted with a 39 kWh battery will pay just £100 to stop their vehicles.

However, the charges rise to a whopping £230 for vehicles with a 90kWh battery such as Tesla Model X.

Lambeth Council is also considering increased charges with officials stressing SUVs were “getting bigger and bigger”.

A staggering 54.5 percent of Parisians voted in favour of parking changes with models over 1.6 tonnes slapped with the extra charges. Despite the controversial decision, just 5.7 percent of eligible voters turned out for the referendum in the first place.

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has stressed the UK capital will not follow Paris’ decision to implement widespread charges for SUV owners.

A spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “There are no plans to introduce an SUV parking charge, nor does the Mayor have the powers to do so.”

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Post source: Express