A car parked with its wheels on the pavement can narrow the route for anyone using a mobility scooter or powered wheelchair. The rules on pavement parking differ across Great Britain, and in England they were the subject of a government announcement on 8 January 2026. This guide sets out, by place, what three sources say: the waiting and parking section of the Highway Code on GOV.UK, Part 6 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 on legislation.gov.uk, and the Department for Transport (DfT) written statement and consultation outcome on pavement parking. All were read on 31 October 2026. The Highway Code page shows no date; the Scottish Act page says Part 6 has no known outstanding changes.
Scotland: a prohibition with listed exceptions
Section 50 of the 2019 Act says a person must not park a motor vehicle on a pavement. A vehicle counts as parked on a pavement if it is stationary and one or more of its wheels, or any part of them, is on any part of the pavement. The Act defines a pavement as a footpath or footway, and records that section 50 came into force on 11 December 2023.
The prohibition is subject to the exceptions in section 55. Those include, each with conditions set out in the section, vehicles used for police and ambulance purposes, vehicles used for works in roads, local authority waste collection and postal services, and vehicles being used in the course of business to deliver or collect goods. A local authority may also make an exemption order for a specified footway under section 51.
Section 56 adds a separate dropped footway prohibition: a person must not park on a carriageway beside a footway that has been lowered, or a carriageway that has been raised, to assist pedestrians or cyclists to cross. Section 57 disapplies that where the lowering is for access to a driveway or garage.
Under section 58 a penalty charge is payable for a contravention. A local authority may issue a penalty charge notice on the basis of conduct observed by an authorised enforcement officer or a record produced by an approved device. Sections 50 to 58 do not mention mobility scooters or powered wheelchairs.
London and the Highway Code
Rule 244 of the Highway Code says drivers must not park partially or wholly on the pavement in London or Scotland, with exceptions allowed in limited circumstances. For elsewhere it uses softer wording: drivers should not park partially or wholly on the pavement unless signs permit it. The same rule says parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments, and people with prams or pushchairs. The legal references printed beside the rule are abbreviated as GL(GP)A section 15 and T(Scot)A Part 6.
Rule 243 lists places where drivers should not stop or park. One is where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles. For Scotland, the rule adds that drivers must not park anywhere the kerb has been lowered to help pedestrians or cyclists.
England outside London: what the 8 January 2026 statement said
The DfT consultation outcome page is marked as applying to England. In its response, the DfT describes what councils outside London can currently enforce:
- vehicles parked in contravention of existing waiting restrictions, such as yellow lines, which also apply to the pavement and verge;
- a designated prohibition put in place through a traffic regulation order with prescribed or authorised signs and markings;
- heavy commercial vehicles with an operating weight of over 7.5 tonnes.
The written statement to Parliament, delivered on 8 January 2026, says the government will not introduce a one size fits all national prohibition, which was one of the consultation options. Instead it says it will enable local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking across their areas at the next legislative opportunity. In the meantime, it says secondary legislation will be introduced in 2026 to let local authorities enforce against unnecessary obstruction of the pavement where uniformed civil enforcement officers observe it. The statement adds that the department will issue statutory guidance. Whether that secondary legislation is in force can be checked on GOV.UK; the pages read do not show it.
The DfT response also gives figures from the 2020 consultation, which drew 15,381 responses. Of the people and organisations that responded, 82% of individuals said pavement parking was a problem in their area, and 41% of individuals said they would leave home more often if there were no pavement parking. Those percentages describe the people who chose to respond, and the response itself says the consultation was not a voting exercise.
What the pages leave open
The DfT response says pavement parking is particularly difficult for people with sight or mobility impairments, wheelchair users and people using prams or buggies. Its next steps promise a framework that considers accessibility and disabled parking provision. None of the sources read sets out how any rule applies to a particular scooter journey. The DfT consultation outcome applies to England, and no Welsh source was read.
The bottom line
Three regimes appear in the sources read. In Scotland, a statutory prohibition has been in force since 11 December 2023, with listed exceptions and penalty charges. In London, the Highway Code says drivers must not park on the pavement. Elsewhere in Great Britain the Code says drivers should not, unless signs permit it, and for England outside London the government announced on 8 January 2026 that local transport authorities would be enabled to prohibit pavement parking at the next legislative opportunity, with secondary legislation in 2026 on unnecessary obstruction as an interim step. The pages read do not say how any particular parked vehicle would be treated.
Sources
- The Highway Code: Waiting and parking (238 to 252), GOV.UK, page undated, read 31 October 2026 (gov.uk)
- Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, Part 6 Parking prohibitions, legislation.gov.uk, read 31 October 2026 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Pavement parking consultation: government response (written statement to Parliament), Department for Transport, 8 January 2026, read 31 October 2026 (gov.uk)
- Managing pavement parking (consultation outcome page), Department for Transport, updated 8 January 2026, read 31 October 2026 (gov.uk)
- Pavement parking options for change: government response, Department for Transport, read 31 October 2026 (gov.uk)