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Parking fines are "throttling the UK economy", impacting tradespeople as well as consumers and firms in all sectors, business owners claim. It comes as a survey and research from Direct Line business insurance showed that tradespeople have been slapped with an estimated 2.3 million parking tickets and fines of up to £160 over the past year alone.

It's thought to have cost them in the region of £119million. Three quarters of tradespeople said they weren't able to find parking close to their workplace at least once a week, the survey found. 48% said they have turned down jobs due to not being able to park within sight of their job site, citing concerns about their tools getting stolen.

The research also found that on average, tradespeople are paying £443 out of their own pocket in a typical year just to park at jobs, with some shelling out as much as £6,000 on parking annually.

More than a quarter (28%) of tradespeople reported that they have been clamped or towed during jobs.

Penalty Charge Notices, or parking fines, can be anywhere between £50-£130 each outside London and up to £160 in the capital, depending on the severity of the parking contravention, according to the Direct Line research.

PCNs are legal fines issued by councils and local authorities, while private firms can issue parking charge notices demanding payment, though they are not technically fines, This is Money explains.

Colin Crooks, chief executive of London-based business consultancy Intentionality, claimed the UK is in the grip of a "parking fine fiasco", as reported by Newspage.

Reacting to the survey, Mr Crooks alleged the figures "reveal a parking system that's fundamentally broken for tradespeople and throttling the UK economy".

He added: "The 2.3 million tickets costing £119 million annually represent money taken directly from self-employed workers operating on already tight margins.

"The system forces three-quarters of tradespeople to park far from job sites wasting countless unpaid hours lugging heavy tools and materials. This isn't just inconvenient, it compromises job quality when workers rush due to parking restrictions, pushes costs onto customers, reduces UK productivity and makes the profession less appealing at precisely the wrong time.

"The UK already faces a shortfall of 250,000 tradespeople by 2030, with potential losses of £98 billion in growth.

He added that intelligent reform is "essential", such as "trade permits for temporary loading, designated trade parking, grace periods for visible work activity and common-sense enforcement that distinguishes legitimate work from parking abuse".

Kundan Bhaduri, Landlord at London-based The Kushman Group, said: "Every week I see electricians, plumbers and builders factor parking fines into their quotes because finding legal spaces near job sites has become impossible, turning every callout into a lottery.

"When my heating engineer quotes an extra £50 for city centre work to cover that inevitable parking fine, that cost eventually lands on families already struggling with energy bills."

Mike Staton, director at Mansfield-based Staton Mortgages, said the proliferation of parking fines is also having major impact on those seeking to buy a new home or remortgage. He said: "Parking tickets have become a nightmare for the mortgage industry."

He said many people are aren't aware have parking tickets, which when left unpaid can County Court Judgments (CCJs) and impact their ability to obtain credit.

He said: "Only yesterday I dealt with a client who has a £243 CCJ due to a parking ticket that he was not aware he had. This would-be borrower has been declined by most major high street lenders as a result.

"Many of the private firms that manage parking spaces often go unchecked and unregulated, spelling financial chaos for anybody that gets caught in their trap," he claimed, adding: "It is too easy for these firms to be able to destroy your credit profile."

He added: "It's about time the government cracked down on these firms. They are akin to Pirates in a sea of Cars."

Scott Gallacher, at Leicester-based Rowley Turton said its also impacting workers in the service sector, such as financial advisers. He said: "When visiting clients at their homes or workplaces, parking can be a real challenge, especially nowadays when many households have two or three cars."

"It's a practical issue that adds unnecessary stress and cost to hardworking professionals simply trying to do their jobs."

The Department for Transport has been approached for comment.