Brentwood's town car parks are free all day on Sunday, but King George's Playing Fields charges seven days a week. Shenfield caps every stay at three hours.
Brentwood’s town centre car parks are free all day on Sunday. One is not. King George’s Playing Fields charges from 6am to 6.59pm every day of the week, Sunday included, while Coptfold Road, William Hunter Way, Chatham Way and the Town Hall car parks charge nothing.
Two other things catch people out. The free 30 minutes only exists if you press the green button on a pay machine, and it is not available at all when you pay by phone. And the council’s own Residents Discount Card no longer works in the three car parks most people use.
Every tariff below is from Brentwood Borough Council’s own car park pages, checked on 2 September 2026. On-street parking in Brentwood is not run by the borough at all, which is covered further down.
Brentwood town centre
All the tariffs below apply Monday to Saturday. Sunday is free in every car park in this section.
| Car park | Postcode | Spaces | 1hr | 2hr | 3hr | 4hr | Longest stay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coptfold Road multi-storey | CM14 4FA | 523 | £1.00 | £2.00 | £3.00 | £4.00 | £6.00 for 6 hours |
| William Hunter Way | CM14 4SS | 371 | £1.50 | £2.50 | £3.50 | £4.50 | £7.00 for 24 hours |
| Chatham Way | CM14 4BG | 122 | £1.50 | £2.50 | £3.50 | £4.50 | £7.00 for 24 hours |
| Town Hall East | CM15 8AY | 13 | £1.50 | £2.50 | £3.50 | £4.50 | £7.00 for 24 hours |
| Town Hall North | Ingrave Road | 63 | £1.50 | £2.50 | £3.50 | £4.50 | £7.00 for 24 hours |
Notes on each:
- Coptfold Road is the cheapest place to park in Brentwood for anything up to six hours, and it is barrier-controlled with pay on exit. The height restriction was lowered to 1.8 metres, so check roof bars and boxes before you drive in. It takes contactless card and phone payments only, with no cash. A lost ticket costs £6.
- William Hunter Way and Chatham Way are also pay on exit with number plate cameras. Both take cash, although no change is given.
- Town Hall North is staff permits only Monday to Friday. Public charges apply on Saturday, and its pay machine is over in the East car park.
- Town Hall South is electric vehicle charging points only. You may park there while charging. White bays are permit only and yellow bays are for police.
King George’s Playing Fields, entrance on Hartswood Road, CM14 5AE, is the exception to the Sunday rule. It has more than 500 spaces and charges Monday to Sunday, 6am to 6.59pm: £1.50 for an hour rising to £5.50 for five hours, £7.00 for six hours and £9.00 for 24 hours or until close. Blue badge holders get three hours free there, with no return within four hours.
Season ticket holders only: Sir Francis Way (17 spaces) and Eagle Way, CM13 3BH (80 spaces).
The Sainsbury’s car park off William Hunter Way, CM14 4WQ, is privately run and its rules are not the council’s.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Brentwood car parks, last updated 29 June 2026.
Shenfield: nothing longer than three hours
Both council car parks in Shenfield sell a maximum of three hours, with no return within four. That holds on Sundays too, when parking is free but the three-hour cap still applies.
- Friars Avenue, CM15 8JA. 62 spaces plus 1 disabled bay.
- Hunter Avenue, CM15 8PF. 48 spaces plus 3 disabled bays.
Both charge £1.50 for an hour, £2.50 for two and £3.50 for three, seven days a week. Both give 30 minutes free, but only one free session per vehicle per day.
So there is no all-day council parking at Shenfield. Commuters use the station car park instead, which is a different operator and a different order of cost.
Shenfield station car park is run by Saba Park Services and has 442 spaces, open 24 hours:
- £1.50 an hour
- £13.80 a day
- £55.00 a week
- £199.00 a month
- £537.00 for three months
- £1,932.00 a year
There are also 37 Premium Bay spaces at £2,680.00 a year, and 112 cycle stands, which are not sheltered and not covered by CCTV.
Sources: Brentwood Borough Council, Shenfield car parks; Greater Anglia, Shenfield station information.
Ingatestone: free, but only for two hours
Both of the council’s Ingatestone car parks are free.
- Market Place, CM4 0BY. 17 spaces plus 3 disabled bays.
- Bell Mead, CM4 0BS. 36 spaces.
Free parking runs Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, with a two-hour maximum and no return for four hours.
The Ingatestone and Fryerning Community Association also runs a car park on the High Street, CM4 9ED. It is not council run and it charges.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Ingatestone car parks.
Where parking is free, and the traps
Free:
- All day Sunday at Coptfold Road, William Hunter Way, Chatham Way, Town Hall East and Town Hall North.
- All day Sunday in Shenfield, though still capped at three hours.
- Two hours, Monday to Saturday at Market Place and Bell Mead in Ingatestone.
- 30 minutes in the town car parks that offer it.
The traps:
- King George’s Playing Fields charges on Sundays. It is the one town car park that does not join the free Sunday scheme, and it charges every day from 6am to 6.59pm.
- The free 30 minutes needs the green button. At pay and display machines you have to press it to get the ticket. The council states plainly that the option “is not available when paying by phone”. In the barrier car parks it is applied automatically.
- In Shenfield you only get one free 30-minute session per vehicle per day.
- The Residents Discount Card does not work in the ANPR car parks. The council’s own FAQ says the new system “doesn’t permit for the residents discount card to be used” at Coptfold Road multi-storey, Chatham Way or William Hunter Way, the three busiest car parks in the town. It says it is reviewing this. The card can still be used in the other surface pay and display car parks.
Free Sunday parking was agreed in December 2023 as part of the 2024/25 budget, along with replacing the old 24-hour charge with the flat £7 and freezing season ticket prices. Charges were then frozen again for 2025/26.
Paying
Since 19 June 2025 the council has withdrawn phone-and-pay. Payment is through the MiPermit app, the MiPermit web portal, or on 0345 520 7007. Coptfold Road, William Hunter Way and Chatham Way are pay on exit, using number plate cameras, so you pay at a terminal in the car park before you drive out. William Hunter Way and Chatham Way still take cash. Coptfold Road does not.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Paying for parking.
Season tickets and the overnight permit
Season tickets cover Coptfold Road, Sir Francis Way, Eagle Way, Hunter Avenue and Friars Avenue. They are now digital, bought through MiPermit. Existing paper permits must stay in the windscreen until renewal.
| Term | Standard | Flexible, 3 nominated days a week |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | £123 | £76 |
| 3 months | £369 | £211 |
| 6 months | £696 | £400 |
| 12 months | £1,258 | £709 |
A replacement or additional key for William Hunter Way East costs £30.
There is also a residents’ overnight permit for William Hunter Way and Chatham Way. It is only valid 7pm to 8am, only for street addresses inside a mapped area, and you need photo ID plus a V5 logbook showing the same address.
- 7 days: £15
- 1 month: £63
- 3 months: £187
- 6 months: £374
- 12 months: £747
No permit guarantees a space.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Car park season tickets, last updated 1 July 2026.
Blue badge
Blue badges in Brentwood are issued by Essex County Council, on 0345 603 7630.
The borough council allows badge holders to park free for up to three hours in its pay and display car parks, except Coptfold Road multi-storey. Badge holders may also park all day in residents’ parking bays and limited waiting bays. Dedicated bays are provided in most public car parks: 35 at William Hunter Way, 20 at Coptfold Road, 6 at King George’s Playing Fields and 3 each at Chatham Way, Town Hall North and Hunter Avenue.
At William Hunter Way and Chatham Way, where the barriers read number plates, you have to scan the badge at a payment machine to apply the three free hours. The machine then calculates anything owed beyond that before the barrier will lift.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Blue badge scheme.
On-street parking is Chelmsford’s job
This surprises people. Brentwood Borough Council does not run on-street parking. The South Essex Parking Partnership, hosted by Chelmsford City Council, issues resident and visitor permits and enforces on-street restrictions across Basildon, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Maldon and Rochford.
Brentwood’s permit prices, set by SEPP:
- Resident permit: £37.40 a year. Up to two per property, reduced by the number of off-street spaces you have, or if the area is at capacity.
- Visitor tickets: £5.50 for a block of 10, each valid for up to five hours.
- Residents aged over 65 are entitled to one free resident permit per household. Call 01245 606710.
Contact SEPP on 01245 606710 or at parking@chelmsford.gov.uk.
Sources: Brentwood Borough Council, On-street parking; Chelmsford City Council, Costs for resident permit scheme.
If you get a ticket
Penalty charge notices are £50 or £70 depending on the contravention, halved if you pay within 14 days.
Which body issued it is in the reference:
- BW means Brentwood Borough Council, in a car park. Challenge or pay through the council’s penalty charge notices page, or pay on 0345 200 1173.
- XP means the South Essex Parking Partnership, on the street. Challenge through the SEPP portal.
Challenges must reach the council within 28 days, and within 14 days if you want the 50% discount held open in case it is rejected. Do not pay first: the council says it will not consider a challenge after the penalty has been paid.
What this page does not cover
The council publishes no current price for the Residents Discount Card, and there is no page for it on its website, so no figure is quoted here. Charges at the Ingatestone and Fryerning Community Association car park and at Sainsbury’s are set privately and are not listed.
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