Seaside town doubles traffic fines after being overrun with 'illegal and dangerous' parking from tourists

Published: 15:35, 4 August 2026 | Updated: 15:58, 4 August 2026 A seaside town has doubled parking fines on more than 500 roads to address 'wild west' motorists causing chaos in the summer months. Those parking illegally in Bournemouth, Dorset, will now be hit with £160 fines, up from £80 previously. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) council has also hiked penalties for drivers whose cars have to be towed away from £105 to £280. Some 543 residential roads close to the seven-mile-long south coast seafront will be affected. The council's action came after motorists began dumping their cars on double yellow lines, grass verges, roundabouts and private driveways to be close to the beach. Higher fines will be in place for a trial period until the end of this month - peak holiday season in the resort town. Previous fines, which were reduced to £35 if paid within two weeks, had not deterred illegal parking. BCP council said an initial trial had been a 'huge success'. Richard Herrett, a member of the council, said: 'The inconsiderate, illegal, and dangerous parking we see on our seafront every single summer continues to put people at risk. Those parking illegally in Bournemouth, Dorset, (pictured in 2020) will now be hit with £160 fines, up from £80 previously Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) council has also hiked penalties for drivers whose cars have to be towed away from £105 to £280 (file image) 'Illegal parking blights our communities, and it only gets worse during the summer. 'The evidence is clear: tougher fines work. They cut illegal parking, improve safety and have strong backing from the people most affected.' David Bailey, the president of the area's destination management board, said the illegal parking in previous years had been unmanageable. 'We welcome everyone to Bournemouth; we are a tourist resort,' he said. 'We want everyone to come, but some people come, and they park their cars in the craziest of places.' The trial will be introduced on roads between Sandbanks in Poole and Southbourne in Bournemouth. But some motorists criticised the fine hikes and said the council had been too heavy-handed, looking to punish drivers rather than offering solutions. Andrea Charman, the chair of Branksome Park and Canford Cliffs residents association, said she was blocked into her driveway twice last year by parked cars. 'If you've come a long way to take your kids to the beach and it's sweltering and you can't find anywhere, you are going to park wherever you can,' she said. 'So actually I don't think it will be a great deterrent, I really think people will still be parking on corners and all sorts of other things, it's not going to actually end the problem.' Others pointed to the council's sale of car parks to developers as one source of the problem, adding better park and ride offerings may also help. Alongside parking woes, Bournemouth has been labelled a 'no-go zone' after a spate of street fights and daytime drinking. Despite its reputation as a sunny, sandy getaway, the seaside town faces rampant anti-social behaviour which sees drug deals taking place in plain sight and hooligans brawling in the middle of the road. During the recent heatwave, Dorset police confiscated dozens of canisters of so-called hippie crack, or nitrous oxide, and alcohol from young people on Bournemouth beach. Business owners in the town pleaded for more help from police and the council to stop the behaviour, which they said was discouraging tourism. Resident Owen Pearce, 22, said: 'The amount of times I've had to phone the police from my house is ridiculous. 'I've seen stabbings, assaults. I've had someone try to break down my front door.' When the Daily Mail visited Bournemouth last month, reporter Neil Sears was spat at, punched in the jaw and forced to fend off a slew of blows to the face during the early evening. Jamie Wiseman, a Mail photographer, was also attacked and was left with his shirt ripped to shreds and a bloody knee. The Lib-Dem leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, Millie Earl, previously insisted ‘most of’ the millions of visitors each year ‘have a fantastic time’. When approached by the Daily Mail She said a recently-installed six-foot fence on the cliffs had made the illegal camp harder to access, amid plans to ‘clear it as soon as it is safe to do so’. Dorset Police Chief Superintendent Julie Howe, Commander for the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area, added: ‘Like most large, urbanised areas, we do have crime, which we are tackling and reducing. The added influx of visitors during peak periods can lead to additional demand, and we have extensive policing plans in place to ensure we proactively deter offenders. ‘This summer, our Good Safe Summer initiative sees us deploy enhanced visible patrols in key areas of tourist activity, such as the seafront, town centre and Lower Gardens. These patrols are also undertaken alongside our Town Team, deployed by BCP [Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole] Council. ‘Furthermore, our officers conduct regular foot patrols around hotspot areas where anti-social behaviour and violent crime have been reported. This includes The Triangle. Earlier this year, Dorset Police welcomed an additional 11 officers to the neighbourhood policing team covering Bournemouth town centre, and the increased visibility and engagement of our officers has seen positive results. ‘In the town centre, comparing the year 2026 to the previous 12 months, anti-social behaviour has reduced by 5.7 per cent, total crime by 3.2 per cent, violence against the person by 1.8 per cent, and public order incidents by 13 per cent.’