APCOA PCN – Pick Up/Drop Off Zone (no valid payment) – London City Airport

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle (private hire).

For context: the vehicle regularly uses most major London airports for pick-ups/drop-offs and holds auto-pay accounts for their drop-off zones. London City Airport is the one exception — no auto-pay account had been set up there.

The driver used the LCY Pick Up/Drop Off Zone on 24/07/2026, entering at 05:16:06 and exiting at 05:17:46 (a stay of around 1 minute 40 seconds), without an auto-pay account in place and without paying at the time.

On realising later that no payment had been made, a manual payment was made — but by that point the payment system would only allow payment for a period within roughly the last 24 hours; 24/07 was no longer selectable. The payment confirmation email from APCOA shows:

Purchase ID: 30307580
Location: London City Airport Drop-off
Purchase Date: Sun 26 July 2026, 04:01
Parking Period listed on receipt: Sat 25 July 2026, 05:00–05:05
Amount Paid: £8.00 (inc. VAT)

So the receipt shows 25/07, not the actual usage date of 24/07 — this is believed to be because the system's payment window only went back so far, not an intention to pay for a different day. Would appreciate advice on whether this payment could still count toward the charge, or whether it will be treated as irrelevant since it's for the "wrong" date, as well as the case generally.

I subsequently received a Parking Charge Notice by post, dated 05/08/2026:

Parking Charge Number: [redacted for posting]
Vehicle: Mercedes-Benz E220d Se Auto
Alleged contravention: Use of Pick Up/Drop Off Zone without making a valid payment
Location: London City Airport – LCY TDOZ
Entry: 05:16:06, 24/07/2026
Exit: 05:17:46, 24/07/2026
Charge amount: £100 (reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days of issue)

I have not yet responded to APCOA.

Front of notice:
Back of notice:

If you search the forum for
“APCOA airport” you will find many successful appeals based on airports not being “relevant land” for the purposes of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which can otherwise be used to transfer liability from the driver to the registered keeper. If you use one of these, ensuring that you do not identify the driver in any way (unlike your post above) then APCOA is very likely to cancel. Even if not, APCOA doesn’t “do” court anyway in our experience.

Thank you for pointing that out — really useful, and apologies for the driver-identification slip in my original post, I've corrected it now to refer to "the driver" throughout.

I'll search the forum for "APCOA airport" to look at how other successful appeals have argued the relevant land point. Really appreciate the steer.