Parking Hell

In Basildon, the locals are taking up arms after being caught out on camera at a hi-tech high-street car park. Plus, the story of a `Cornish Columbo" who turned detective when his beloved Reliant Robin was mysteriously moved onto double yellows, earning him £400 in parking tickets.

The documentary about the fight to find a parking space focuses on the increasing use of technology. The West Midlands traffic police are assisted by Robocop, showing motorists how to park safely, and mum-of-four Davida meets the robots as she puts the UK's largest fully automated car park to the test.

The documentary reveals how the problem of finding somewhere to park has caused many motorists to turn selfish on the roads. Traffic wardens struggle to control the chaos in the seaside town of Tenby as drivers head to the coast for a break, and impatient motorists get in the way of a Remembrance Day march and also block the emergency services in the Midlands.

The documentary reveals how motorists who park in the way, or fail to pay their fines, might be unlucky enough to have their cars towed away by someone like Sam, who works in the West Midlands. And as one driver discovers, getting his vehicle back does not come cheap. Meanwhile, parking vigilante Sue fights on behalf of a nurse who got 11 tickets for parking in the wrong space at work, and a Volkswagen Golf GTi owner's friends are embarrassed when he parks across two spaces to avoid his precious car getting pranged.

Winter in Tenby, south-west Wales, brings a tidal wave of white vans into town as Debs and her team battle with a bevy of builders trying to fit in their winter work and parking wherever they can. In the Cotswolds town of Cirencester, local trucker Gerry decides to do a good deed by turning a double-decker bus into a homeless shelter. However, there is upset as the council slaps his big yellow bus with a big yellow ticket. A Devon businessman gives his town an early Christmas present by expanding his free car park.

Cameras follow PC Mark `Robocop" Hodson, a policeman on a mission to restore parking law and order to the streets of Birmingham. He sets his sights on the city centre, where one unsuspecting pavement parker is about to feel the force of his zero-tolerance approach to bad parking. In Manchester, a band of baby-faced enforcers are turning the tables on the parents who break the parking rules at the school gates, and driving instructor extraordinaire Andy is hoping to instil some law and order into panic-parker and panto performer Liam.