The number of vehicle keeper requests made by private parking companies has soared over the last year, leading to increased calls for regulation in the industry.

Private parking ticket is now being issued every 7 seconds; the equivalent of 9 per minute.

Data released by the RAC Foundation shows that nearly five million vehicle records were shared with private parking firms in 2016/17 – up from 3.67 million 2015/16 and representing an annual increase of 28%.

The vast bulk of this information is likely to have been used by private parking companies to send penalty charges – often up to £100 – to drivers who have allegedly infringed parking rules.

The data suggests that a private parking ticket is now being issued every 7 seconds; the equivalent of 9 per minute, 538 per hour and 12,904 per day.

Wheel-clamping on private land was banned in October 2012 but since that date, requests for vehicle-keeper data held by the DVLA have soared by 200%.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “We all hoped the problems associated with parking on private land would go away when clamping was outlawed. It turns out we hoped in vain.

“The number of vehicle keeper requests that private parking companies make on behalf of their landowner clients is a barometer for how well the private parking system is working, and we believe that the barometer is reading ‘stormy weather’ for ministers who have had the responses to the 2015 public consultation [on parking reform] on their desks for two years now. It is high time that politicians – thinking of their election prospects – and landowners alike woke up to the calls for a better, fairer, properly regulated approach.”