Hounslow pcn - Contravention Code 42 parking in designated police bay

Hello all

I received a PCN for parking in a designated police bay and would be grateful for any help and advice you can give please.

York Road is a short dead end road and I pulled into the road, which I know to be resident and pay & display. As I drove further into the road a vehicle pulled out of the bay I'd parked in so I reversed back into that bay. When doing so I did not notice the faded lines dividing the resident bays and the police bays. Just for the record I am not a resident and was using my blue badge which is allowed in resident bays, I'm aware they cannot be used in a Police bay and would never have parked there had I realised it was so.

I submitted my initial which was refused by the council, no surprise!

My grounds were two fold:
1. The tarmac lacks the mandatory "POLICE" or "POLICE VEHICLES ONLY" road legend on the road itself;
2. Where the bays change from resident to the designated police vehicle bay the lineage on the tarmac has faded and cannot clearly be seen, I certainly never saw it!

Regards point 1, hands up, I got this from an AI search and have looked and found legislation that states the bays need to be signposted but cannot find anything that states specifically that the road markings are also a requirement. so if anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great.

This is the wording of the appeal I put in:

I am writing to formally challenge the above-mentioned Penalty Charge Notice on the grounds that the alleged contravention did not occur due to non-compliant and entirely missing road markings. On 21/08/26, my vehicle was issued a PCN for being parked in a designated police vehicle bay. However, there are absolutely no road markings at this location to designate or delimit a police parking place. The tarmac lacks the mandatory "POLICE" or "POLICE VEHICLES ONLY" road legend required by the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD). Where the bays change from resident to the designated police vehicle bay the lineage on the tarmac has faded and cannot be seen, as shown in the attached photo. Because the road surface completely lacks these mandatory markings, the restriction is entirely unidentifiable on the ground, meaning it is legally unenforceable. I have attached photographic evidence clearly showing the unmarked stretch of road where my vehicle was parked. Further, I was visiting Hounslow Police Station for a 1 hour period and specifically asked where I could park with a Blue Badge and I was told that I could park in York Road for that specific time period. Given the complete absence of the required statutory road markings (both the missing and the faded markings) and what the Police told me as detailed above, I request that this Penalty Charge Notice be cancelled immediately.

Thanks all

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/i02t8izm1mbncf2gqqf8z/Hounslow-pcn-redacted-August2026.pdf?rlkey=thodzrq1wmbv81ep15attxjsh&st=08zptzk8&dl=0

Sorry I had not added the zoomed in photo of the faded line:

Please post a GSV of the location as well as the Council photos.

And reveal all info in the PCN pl, there's no point in hiding your VRM, dates and times and PCN number.

Thanks for you replies, all below.

Original PCN:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4nbyzg4eoj53pgrn4eyh7/Hounslow-pcnAugust2026.pdf?rlkey=assnxj60b61stpoidn4428lve&st=ibg4ai8e&dl=0

PCN Photos, although the separation cannot be seen:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zr0pixmhrebo0fehy9fya/Hounslow-PCN-Photos.png?rlkey=2xnh0i6ypswd7ze1m8yemwq1g&st=tjczgqty&dl=0

GSV, although the lines no longer look like this and there is a  van parked over the separation between resident and police bays:

Website is wanting re general box/no grounds.

Sorry @Hippocrates I'm not sure what you mean by this

Your account is not consistent with the photos which show you parked in the first bay of the 'police only' parking place, which is the first parking place in the road. Your nearest traffic sign was the black on yellow 'no stopping' sign. The resident's bay sign was in a different bay completely. Your argument as currently structured won't win IMO.

A 'police only' sign, whether no waiting or no stopping, is a permitted variant of the 'taxis only' sign. ALL other elements of a 'taxis only' bay remain i.e. the broad yellow line(if no stopping, as here) and yellow road markings to replace normal white when the bay is reserved 24/7, as here. As you now know, the road marking 'POLICE..' is optional. 

In your photos, I can see the broad line and the road markings, but neither appears to be yellow. Look at GSV and you will see the Sept. 2009 version of the markings, all pristine yellow.

Today's pale, literally, in comparison.

Thank you @tincombe for your detailed reply, it is much appreciated.

With regards to my account not being consistent maybe I did not word it very well but i think it is. What I meant is that I pulled in and drove past the bay I finally parked in, then as I drove down the road there were no other spaces and as I reversed back out a vehicle vacated the space I ended up parking in. Hope that makes it clearer.

In your opinion and anyone else's if they would care to give them, would I have any chance of winning on the basis that the line has faded? Unfortunately I think they could argue it is still yellow, just a very dull shade!

And is there any argument regarding the white lines dividing the Police & Resident bays being very faded?

Further to the above I had not added the council reply to my appeal:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/aku1anpj1m8nn6yt4i2rp/Hounslow-PCN-appeal-rejection.docx?rlkey=mgznggskuoanlbt5h4zl4lmga&st=fotk5pyd&dl=0

They've included the 3 most important photos i.e. the broad line under the car and clearly visible to a diligent driver, the view from the rear, although you appear to be saying that you reversed into this space* and the sign which includes the meaning that BB holders are not permitted to park.

Did you not see the broad line, if not, why not? And if you saw it, what did you think it meant?

Wait for others, incl a view as to procedural issues.

*- the res parking sign/bay is quite some distance ahead of you and separated from your bay by a single yellow line: there is no junction between your and the resident's bay.

Thanks again, I did not notice the broad line as I reversed into the bay/kerb and pulled forward, and when I passed it going forward there was a vehicle parked there & to be honest I did not pay much attention to that bay as it was taken. I'd driven some way down the road and could see by then there were no spaces, then I saw the vehicle pulling out behind me so rather than turning at the end I reversed down the road and into that bay.

Regards the single yellow line separating the residents bay and police bay, that has been removed. If you look at my GSV and follow the road down 1 click, that image is from 2022 and you can see the resident bay has been extended and now adjoined to the police bay. Further on and from the other direction the GSV is from 2009 so it must have been a single line then.

Again, regards there being no 'Police' legend on the tarmac, is this not a requirement. I've noticed that in the 2009 photos the bays are clearly marked 'Police' on the tarmac.

As I said before I thought it was a requirement that the tarmac has the correct legend. As per Item 5, Part 4, Diagram 1028.2, Sign table — Schedule 7, Part 4

This shows an image with the Taxi legend and also says:
Area of carriageway reserved for taxis or, where the legend is varied as indicated in column 4, reserved for ambulances or police vehicles, where waiting by other vehicles is prohibited



https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/362/schedule/7

In GSV 2015, its all perfectly clear with the single yellow line separating the two bays.

Then some years later, the council decide to extend the parking bay right up to the police bay.
GSV shows the situation in 2022.

The "Police Police" carriageway text is removed, and the double line bay separator is put in. You can just see it under the rear of the grey van. A broad (yellow or white ??) line is painted on the police bay. Both bay signs remain in their 2015 positions. and the yellow paint used to indicate the boundary is changed to white.

The downside for me is that by parking in the police bay, the sign for the police bay is now nearest to the appellant's car, which he seems to have ignored.

Thanks again, I did not notice the broad line as I reversed into the bay/kerb and pulled forward, and when I passed it going forward

I don't follow. The broad line runs for the whole length of the bay. The only vehicle on this within the length of your car was your car.

The sign is clear in the photos and this is what the adjudicator would see. If you did not see it, then IMO this would be put at your door i.e. not paying sufficient attention. Your possible arguments could be that the exterior markings were not yellow, or yellow enough, for you to spot the difference between the bays. But would the adjudicator?

If there is a significant enough difference in colour then you were put on notice by this and the broad line.

IMO, the objective evidence against you is so strong that you might have to resort to plan B i.e. that although marked, it wasn't marked as required and that this meant that it failed the substantial compliance test.

Thanks for your reply @Incandescent

The downside for me is that by parking in the police bay, the sign for the police bay is now nearest to the appellant's car, which he seems to have ignored.

I do accept that the signage on the post is there and clear, however as I had not noticed any change in the bays from the road markings it was my belief that the residents parking continued so I did not check unfortunately.

Regards the double line bay separator that you said can be seen in the GSV from 2022, by the time of my image of the bay, it is now a single line at best that I can see and even then that is extremely faded.

Would that, and the fact the other road markings are so faded they are not clearly yellow and one cannot distinguish between them and the other markings as well as the lack of the 'POLICE' legend on the road itself be sufficient do we think for appeal. As I said in my last post, it reads to me as ig the legend 'POLICE' is a requirement and not optional but I am aware this can crossover so I may be wrong (he says crossing his fingers that he is not!)