Free Traffic Legal Advice

Perhaps. You say parking is allowed partly on the pavement in bays or if you hold a permit. Never mind what the council say as regards that they are wrong. Parking on the footpath was banned by law in 1974. The council were given a mechanism to disapply that ban by making a resolution of the council if that says that the ban is disapplied for the whole road then there is no contravention. If it does not and only disapplies the ban in bays, then this is not signed so you could not know or maybe they have not disapplied it at all so penalizing some whilst allowing others to breach the ban would be wrong and the principle of clean hands could be argued

Thanks cp8759, much appreciated! I have saved as PDF and uploaded as the appeal only allowed 1000 characters - which I've put 'see attached appeal letter'. Will keep you updated and let you know outcome as soon as I hear back. Once again, thank you! Have also attached images of the disabled badge. Let's hope this ticket gets cancelled!

Hi

I have received a reply from the council who have rejected my appeal. Please see below.

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Challenge Rejection
Traffic Management Act 2004

Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) Number: BZ61315672
Vehicle Registration: RV22RXG
Date of Issue: 18/10/2023

I refer to your challenge against the above Penalty Charge Notice, which has now been
considered in accordance with the Traffic Management Act 2004.

The Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) was issued to you because your vehicle was seen parked
with one or more wheels on any part of a footway/grass verge.

I have investigated the circumstances raised in your correspondence and have made the
decision to not cancel your notice. The reasons for my decision are set out below, along with
the options available to you at this stage.

I have noted your comments and I must inform you that this does not exempt you from the
PCN as the contravention under Section 15(1) of the Greater London Council (General
Powers) Act 1974 as amended and by Section 15 of the London Local Authorities Act 2000
and Section 8 of the London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2008 occurs, and
is enforceable under Paragraph 3(2)(a) of Schedule 7 to the Traffic Management Act 2004, if a
vehicle is parked anywhere in Greater London with one or more wheels on or over any part of
the a road other than a carriageway or on or over a footpath, unless an exemption applies.
There is no such exemption at this location. The restriction applies twenty-four hours a day
seven days a week. There is no requirement for any signs and the vehicle need not be
causing any obstruction.

You have explained that you stopped to pick someone up or drop someone off.

Whilst I understand that it is sometimes necessary to park your vehicle to perform loading /
unloading activities, it remains the motorist's responsibility to adhere to the Highway Code, as
well as any signs and lines that may be present to ensure that their vehicle is parked legally,
before leaving it unattended.

The Highway Code states: 'You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in
London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it'. Doing so can obstruct and
seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and
people with prams or pushchairs.

As your vehicle was parked in contravention of the rules in this instance, I am not willing to
accept your appeal.

You have stated in your correspondence that you were transporting a passenger who was the
holder of a Blue Badge.

The vehicle was recorded in Cartwright Road (Dagenham), stopped footway where parking is
not permitted. A Blue Badge does not provide an exemption footway. The signs and road
markings communicating the restrictions are very clear.

The vehicle was recorded in Cartwright Road (Dagenham), stopped footway where parking is
not permitted. A Blue Badge does not provide an exemption on a footway.

You were parked on a footway, where Blue Badge holders are not permitted to park.

Furthermore, each Blue Badge holder is issued with a booklet explaining their responsibilities
as a Blue Badge holder. The booklet explains where Blue Badge holders may or may not park,
as well as how to display the badge and clock correctly. (A copy of the booklet can be
downloaded at the Department for Transport's website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-blue-badge-scheme-rights-and-
responsibilities-in-england.)

I must therefore still request payment of £55.00 before the end of the period of 14 days
beginning with the date of service of this letter. If payment is not received within this time the
full amount of £110.00 will be due.

The full penalty charge of £110.00 is now due to be paid before the end of the period of 28
days, beginning with the date that this letter is served on you.

If you accept the decision in this letter and do not intend to make a formal representation, the
penalty is reduced by 50% to £55.00 if payment is made to the council within 14 days from the
date this letter is served on you. If you want to pay, please see the “How to Pay” section at the
end of this letter.

If you disagree with my findings and would like to make a formal representation to the Council,
you should wait until you receive a Notice to Owner. The Notice to Owner will be sent after a
period of 28 days.

The Notice to Owner gives you the opportunity to make a formal representation against the
Penalty Charge Notice, however, in doing so you will lose the right of discount and will be
required to pay the full amount of £110.00 if your representation is rejected. Should your
representation be accepted, the Penalty Charge Notice will be cancelled.

If you wish to pay, then you can do so by one of the following methods:

To pay ONLINE:

You may use our online payment service at any time to make a card payment. Visit the
Council’s website at www.lbbd.gov.uk/payparking

To pay by TELEPHONE:

You may use our 24-hour automated service by calling 020 8227 2050. Please have your
payment card and PCN number ready when you call.

Once on the payment menu, select ‘parking fines’. Use the PCN number as the reference and
input the appropriate amount to be paid.

For details of other ways to pay please visit www.lbbd.gov.uk/parking

Please do not send cash in the post

Yours sincerely
Barking & Dagenham
Parking Services Team

Parking on the footway in marked bays
Is an OPTIONAL matter for motorists. They are not obliged to do so and may park wholly on the carriageway if not otherwise restricted, and may do so without limit.

The markings MAY NOT extend on to the carriageway because...it's not the carriageway that's at issue, it's the footway and the limit of parking must be made clear if subject to an 'in marked bays only' requirement.

Parking places
These may be placed wholly on the carriageway or part on or wholly on the footway.
Parking other than within the boundaries, AKA markings, is NOT optional, it's mandatory and a breach could result in a penalty.

A parking place is not, never was and cannot be a place marked on the footway which permits footway parking.

Here we have parking places, therefore there's no presumption that anywhere other than these is exempted from the footway parking prohibition..

..except that

when a parking place is placed wholly or partly on the footway then it is mandatory that the traffic sign conveys this information (unless, see below, it sits within a wider area of permitted footway parking) otherwise there would be a serious and confusing disconnect between markings and signs.

The signs for parking places on the footway are at items 3 and 4 of Part 4 here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/362/schedule/4/made


Are these present in this case?

No. The signs are of the form at item 2 in the above table.

What is the legal significance of the use of the wrong traffic sign?

IMO, a motorist may assume that this parking place, whose use is subject to conditions, sits within a wider area of permitted and otherwise unlimited footway parking. Furthermore, they are not obliged to traipse the road looking for such signs because all they need is what's visible to them.

I've yet to see this argument taken to adjudication, although it might have been
for all I know.

It's certainly worthwhile including within reps.

@cp, I don't know that the fact that a parking place exists is proof in itself that a wider disapplication must exist, however, the confusion caused by the mistaken use of traffic signs and the council's ignorance as to the distinction between mandatory footway parking 'markings' and advisory footway marked bays must at least mean it's worth a go at adjudication. In any event the council hasn't addressed let alone reasoned why the exemption below should not be extended to include assisted boarding:

(3)A person shall not be convicted of an offence under this section with respect to a vehicle if he proves to the satisfaction of the court that the vehicle was parked—

d)for the purpose of loading or unloading goods [F6for a period not exceeding 20 minutes or such longer period as the council may permit], and—

(i)the loading or unloading of the vehicle could not have been satisfactorily performed if it had not been so parked; and

(ii)the vehicle was not left unattended at any time while it was so parked.

Yes there is an impact, because the next stage in the process is the service of a Notice to Owner to the name and address on the V5 Registration Certificate for the vehicle.  This will be the lease company, so you need to find out what the contractual arrangements are for dealing with traffic and parking PCNs. Some just pay and charge on the penalty and add on an admin fee. So you do need to contact them. If you can get the NtO transferred to you, then it has no impact on your representations and chance of winning, or any appeal at the adjudicators, just some delay in dealing with the matter.