What is a PSPO?
Public Spaces Protection Orders are how some councils ban sleeping in vehicles. What they are, what breaching one costs, and the six-week window in which one can be challenged.
A Public Spaces Protection Order lets a council prohibit specified behaviour in a defined area. Some coastal and rural authorities use them to ban sleeping in a vehicle overnight.
It is not a parking restriction. It is a behaviour restriction, and that difference matters: a PSPO can prohibit sleeping in your van even where parking itself is perfectly legal.
Where it comes from
PSPOs were created by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, replacing three earlier tools — designated public place orders, gating orders and dog control orders.
A council may make one where activities in a public place are having, or are likely to have, a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality, and where the effect is persistent and unreasonable.
That test is broad, and it is the reason PSPOs are controversial. They are civil orders made by a council rather than a court — but breaching one is a criminal offence.
What it costs to breach one
- £100 fixed penalty notice, issued on the spot
- Or, on conviction, a fine of up to £1,000
Enforcement is usually by council officers rather than police, and in practice it is patchy and seasonal. Patchy enforcement is not a defence, and it tends to sharpen sharply in July and August in exactly the places you want to be.
How long one lasts
Three years maximum, then it expires — but it can be extended by up to three years at a time, indefinitely, if the council considers it necessary. Many are simply rolled over.
So a PSPO is not permanent in principle and often is in practice.
The consultation, and the six-week window
Before making a PSPO a council must consult — typically for around six weeks — with the police and whoever else it considers appropriate. In practice consultations are often answered mostly by residents, and rarely by the visitors an order will actually affect.
Once made, a PSPO can be challenged in the High Court — but only within six weeks.
The right to challenge belongs to an interested person: someone who lives in the restricted area, or who regularly works in or visits it. That last clause matters, because it can include regular visitors rather than only residents. Grounds include the council not having power to make the order, or a failure to comply with the requirements.
Six weeks from the date the order is made or varied. It is a hard deadline, and after it passes the order stands however unreasonable it looks.
If you care about a specific place, the moment to act is when the consultation opens — not when you find the sign.
How to find out whether one applies
Councils must publish their PSPOs, and most list them on a dedicated page. Search for the council name and "PSPO".
The signage should tell you the behaviour prohibited and reference the order. If a sign says no sleeping in vehicles rather than no overnight parking, you are almost certainly looking at a PSPO rather than a Traffic Regulation Order.
PSPO or TRO — how to tell, and why you should care
| TRO | PSPO | |
|---|---|---|
| Restricts | Where and when a vehicle may be | What a person may do |
| Made under | Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 | Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 |
| Typical wording | "No waiting between 2300 and 0700" | "No person shall sleep overnight in a vehicle" |
| Breach | Penalty charge notice | £100 fixed penalty, or up to £1,000 on conviction |
| Lasts | Until varied or revoked | 3 years, extendable |
| Challenge | Via the penalty appeal process | High Court, within 6 weeks of the order |
A place can be subject to both. Parking may be permitted by the TRO and sleeping prohibited by the PSPO, which is precisely the trap that catches people who checked only the parking signs.
In one line
A PSPO bans behaviour rather than parking — so "I am allowed to park here" and "I am allowed to sleep here" can have different answers in the same car park.
Last reviewed 21 August 2026. General guidance, not legal advice. Penalty amounts and the scope of individual orders vary — the order itself and the signage are the authority.
Sources: Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, Part 4 Chapter 2 · Local Government Association PSPO guidance · Home Office statutory guidance.