PCN Fine : Longfield Ave (Ealing council) for turning right on ‘no right turn’

I recieved a letter from Ealing council to say I had illegally turned right from New Broadway onto Longfield Avenue late evening of 29 June 2024 despite there being a ‘no right turn’ sign.

The first notification I received of an offence committed on 29 June 2024 was dated 16 August 2024. I did not receive a notice prior to this. I was preparing to reply after coming back from holiday and then recieved a further letter from them to say I must pay within 14 days or Northampton county court will process it. They also said we’re outside of the appeal date so we can’t reply to Ealing council and we’re at a loss on what to do.

The driver who I was with at the time said that the no right turn sign was 15 metres from the turning and so they are wrongly fining us.

This is exactly where it occurred:
 


I logged into Ealing council parking website and they claim to have a video but it’s not playable and just shows as gray and blank when trying to click on it. There is a photo of the driver and I turning onto longfield Avenue.

I’m attaching the photo of that and the first notice and second notice we received. They also shared another photo showing an up close shot of the van and reg.

Photos of letters and of car turning onto longfield ave

https://imgur.com/a/B1fD7QR (So sorry I don’t know how to find the bb codes to embed the photos)

Any help would be greatly appreciated on how we navigate through this. The fine is pretty hefty.

Thank you in advance

Wrong forum. I've moved this to the council section for you. Make sure you have read this thread, and update your post accordingly so the members can advise you: READ THIS FIRST - **BEFORE POSTING YOUR CASE!**, This section is for council, TFL, Dart/Mersey/Tyne etc. cases

Oops thanks I’m having terrible trouble uploading photos of the letters. They’re 200kb each and in JPEG format and there’s 4 of them. Keeps saying error

If you read the thread I advised you to read further up, it tells you how to provide photos.

Got it. Thanks 🙏🏻

The letter is addressed to 'the secretary' which implies it's a company car and possibly leased.

The PCN is sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle. Who is this?

Thank you for your reply. Yes it’s registered to the company but the owner bought it out right. I was there when he bought it.

As you're at the Charge Certificate stage, having not received the postal PCN for this moving traffic offence, you now have to wait until they register the debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, and send you an Order for Recovery (OfR), by post.  As you've missed a postal PCN, it seems there may be postal problems, hence the need to check the address on the V5 Registration Certificate for accuracy.

At the OfR stage, you can submit a Statutory Declaration that you didn't receive the PCN. The matter will then be reverted to the PCN stage, at which point you can submit representations, or pay it.

GSV for the approach to this street shows not just a No Right Turn sign, but also, a short distance in advance of it, a warning sign as well, which is unusual. However, it would make it harder to say "I didn't see the sign" This advance sign has, I suspect, been put up because the frequent bus traffic would often tend to obscure the sign.


Once the period for payment of the Charge Certificate has expired, you need to be proactive, and make regular enquiries whether the PCN debt has been registered.  If you look at the council web site, you should be able to see the current status of the PCN. When the amount owing is £10 larger than the CC amount, it means the debt has been registered. The £10 is the TEC registration fee. At this point you can download the form from TEC for the Statutory Declaration, fill it in, and submit it,  even though you may not have received the OfR in the post.

Thanks so much for this. Because of your explanation of the positioning of the sign, do we have a poor chance of having the charge waived? It was around 10pm and we could put it down to a poorly lit sign. It doesn’t have a lamp above it and doesn’t look reflective.

Also if it’s a no right turn, then why does that road give access?! Why not put a barrier down on the left side of the road?. They don’t because they want people to go down it and then say there was a sign there. It’s just difficult as it doesn’t really make sense.

It seems that what you’re saying at this point is for us to object to this based upon not having recieved the first letter especially on the basis that they clearly used the V5 register to confirm the address.

What would happen then? A reduction in fee or it being completely waived?

Why not put a barrier down on the left side of the road?

Because then people wanting to turn left into that road from the opposite direction (which you are allowed to do) wouldn't be able to. It isn't a one way road, you just can't enter it by turning right off New Broadway.

Haha! Silly me!

It seems that what you’re saying at this point is for us to object to this based upon not having recieved the first letter especially on the basis that they clearly used the V5 register to confirm the address.

What would happen then? A reduction in fee or it being completely waived?

They will reissue the PCN.

But let's get this clear - is the keeper:

Secretary
Company name
Company address

And the address on the charge certificate is correct but the company secretary did not receive the PCN?

Are you the secretary?

There is no lease company involved?

In which case the process is to wait for the order for recovery and make a statutory declaration as per:



You say there is an owner different from the company? In which the owner should consider becoming the keeper.

Thanks so much for this. Because of your explanation of the positioning of the sign, do we have a poor chance of having the charge waived? It was around 10pm and we could put it down to a poorly lit sign. It doesn’t have a lamp above it and doesn’t look reflective.

Also if it’s a no right turn, then why does that road give access?! Why not put a barrier down on the left side of the road?. They don’t because they want people to go down it and then say there was a sign there. It’s just difficult as it doesn’t really make sense.

It seems that what you’re saying at this point is for us to object to this based upon not having recieved the first letter especially on the basis that they clearly used the V5 register to confirm the address.

What would happen then? A reduction in fee or it being completely waived?

All that acceptance of a Statutory Declaration does is get you back to the original PCN at which point you can pay, or submit representations against the PCN. The PCN is not cancelled. However, as it's a postal PCN, the discount should be available to you.

The company secretary is the owner of the company and of the van and was the driver at the time of this incident. The company name and address is correct

Wait for the order for recovery. We recommend calling TEC say in 3-4 weeks time to see if it has been registered as you don't want the order for recovery also to go missing.