Drivers of seven popular cars from best selling makers including BMW, Kia and Mercedes have been warned they are now banned from parking in public car parks.

That’s because of a little known length rule governing car parking spaces.

Autocar says it has had it in writing from five local councils that vehicles too long to fit into their spaces are now officially banned from parking in any of their council-run car parks.

Any vehicle longer than five metres can no longer park in their car parks, which have a parking bay length which tops out at 4.8 metres.

Some of the best selling vehicles which would be affected include a Mercedes S-Class, Tesla Model S, BMW 7 Series, Range Rovers, the Audi A8 and the Kia EV9 as well as a Rolls Royce Cullinan, but there are others including high end sports car which would also be barred.An FOI request from Autocar was sent to every council in the UK to ask if they planned to extend parking bays to accommodate for longer cars which are now commonplace on British roads, as many haven’t been updated for decades.

Five local authorities - Wokingham, South Hampshire, Broadland, South Suffolk and West Devon - have banned any cars which don’t fit into their spaces.