Sunderland motorists being ripped off with over £400,000 in sneaky extra parking charges

Sunderland City Council is being accused of a lack of transparency over rip off parking fees which have cost drivers over £400,000 in the last 3 years.

Sunderland councillors have hit out at Sunderland Council and parking app RingGo over a lack of transparency over ‘convenience fees’ and SMS reminder charges totalling over £400,000 in 3 years.

Opposition Lib Dem city councillor Martin Haswell is calling for Sunderland Council and parking app RingGo to be more transparent about charges to drivers for so called ‘convenience fees’ and for SMS reminders.

A freedom of information request by Wearside Lib Dems has revealed that between April 2023 and November 2025 drivers in Sunderland Council car parks and parking spaces have been charged £428,744.45 by parking app RingGo for the convenience of using the app to pay for their parking, as well as for getting text message reminders.

Commenting after unveiling the figures, Liberal Democrat councillor for Pallion and Ford Estate Martin Haswell said:

“Sunderland Council and RingGo are ripping people off with these added fees for paying to park using an app or to get a text message reminder. These rip off charges are not easy to spot in the app and don’t feel like they’re fair.

“To add insult to injury, in many city car parks ticket machines are out of service or have been removed and drivers are forced to use the RingGo app and then have to pay a ‘convenience fee’ for the privilege.

"It's bad enough that the Council is proposing increasing parking charges this year and has scrapped the ‘free after 3pm’ scheme in city centre car parks. Forcing people to pay extra to use the RingGo app just helps encourage people to go and shop or eat elsewhere instead supporting great local businesses here in Sunderland.

“The council need to speak with the operator of the app, insist the fees are more transparent and that it is clear for drivers that they will be charged to use the app rather than pay at a machine. Drivers should be able to easily opt out or opting out should be the default and they can instead chose to pay the extra charges opting in. The current approach is just unreasonable.”