A DISTRICT council has issued a warning to residents after a number reported receiving texts relating to a parking ticket.

Torridge District Council has told residents that any texts claiming to be either from them or on behalf of them relating to parking in their car park facilities is, in fact, the work of scammers.

They have said that residents should not click on any link provided or send any personal details as the text messages are not from them.

Typically, when a parking ticket — known as a penalty charge notice (PCN) if it is in a car park operated by a council, or a parking charge notice (PCN) if it is in a privately operated car park — is issued, the details of the registered keeper of the vehicle, as per what is displayed on a V5 vehicle log book, are obtained from the DVLA.

It then uses this information to contact the vehicle’s registered keeper to inform them of the breach of parking regulations along with a demand for payment.

Mobile phone numbers are not kept as part of this information provided by the DVLA - meaning that any text message claiming to be from a council is likely to be fraudulent.

A spokesperson for Torridge District Council said: “We’ve received reports of a texting scam where individuals are receiving texts claiming to be a ‘Parking Penalty Charge Notice’ (PCN) from a ‘local council’, asking you to pay a fine via a suspicious link.

“Please do not click on the link or provide any personal details as this is not from us.

“Torridge District Council does not issue PCN’s via text message, we do not hold personal information and any contact from us would be at least a month later by post and we do not use QR codes on any of our parking signs.

“Stay vigilant and stay safe!”