Hounslow pcn - Contravention Code 42 parking in designated police bay

Thanks for your reply @Incandescent

Quote from: Incandescent on September 12, 2026, 03:28:49 pm

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!)

My view is that your case is not a strong one and unlikely to win at London Tribunals because the police bay sign was so close to you. However others on here may disagree. You have the legal right to take them through the process, and if you want to do so, you must now wait for the Notice to Owner. So now we need to know if you are the owner of the car, and if so, is the name and address on your V5C up-to-date ? Reason to ask is that the PCN is an owner liability, and the NtO is sent to the name and address on the V5C Registration Certificate, (once known as the 'Log Book' because it used to contain a list of all the owners).

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

IMO, quite possibly.

But the burden is on you to convince the adjudicator of these facts and that in the round they should ignore the presence of the clear broad line and adjacent traffic sign. And whether 'one', which is you in this case, would be the standard which would be applied to motorists in general.

OP's first post
"....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."
If told to park in York Road by a police officer, isn't that where the OP MUST park? For the duration specified? If there was only the one parking space available then that is the one that must be used?
Just putting this out there, we don't know the reason for the visit after all.

was told that I could park in York Road

“Could” does not equal “must.”

But the burden is on you to convince the adjudicator of these facts and that in the round they should ignore the presence of the clear broad line and adjacent traffic sign. And whether 'one', which is you in this case, would be the standard which would be applied to motorists in general.

Thanks, I'd mistakenly thought that if they had not adhered to the legislation, ie: the 'POLICE' legend on the tarmac and had not maintained the lines sufficiently that even with the signage on the post I would have a good chance at an appeal but it seems that would be a high risk from what you and others are saying so may need to just pay up.

Quote from: tincombe on Yesterday at 11:49:51 am

But the burden is on you to convince the adjudicator of these facts and that in the round they should ignore the presence of the clear broad line and adjacent traffic sign. And whether 'one', which is you in this case, would be the standard which would be applied to motorists in general.

Thanks, I'd mistakenly thought that if they had not adhered to the legislation, ie: the 'POLICE' legend on the tarmac and had not maintained the lines sufficiently that even with the signage on the post I would have a good chance at an appeal but it seems that would be a high risk from what you and others are saying so may need to just pay up.

Unfortunately, adjudicators are very fond of the words "substantially compliant". Perfection of line etc is not a requirement.  I think maybe you should investigate what t he police meant when they said you could park in York Road.