Apologies for the delay in responding
This is my umpteenth draft
I make representations on the grounds that the alleged contravention did not occur.
There are three reasons the contravention did not occur
1) The vehicle was subject to a valid permit until 12:00:40, when the permit was removed from the vehicle I was entitled to a 10 minute grace period.
a) The PCN was issued at 12:08, this is within the grace period
b) In the UK, a 10-minute statutory grace period applies to council-run bays. If your ticket or paid session expires, a traffic warden cannot legally issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) until 10 minutes after expiry
2) I was entitled to a new period of parking (2 hours), from the moment the permit was removed from the vehicle at 12:00:40
3) Between 10:02:04 and 12:00:40 the vehicle was subject to a valid permit, this entitled me to park for as long as I wished
Referring to the TRO
The relevant articles are 36-39 (which set out how parking restrictions operate) and, to a lesser extent, 123-126 (which set out how virtual permits operate).
They basically state:
- you can't park for longer than the maximum period (article 36)
- but if you have a permit you can park for any period of time (article 39)
- unless you have a permit, you cannot park again in the same place (or within the same CPZ) for the "no return" period specified (articles 37 and 38).
- article 38 prevents "parking again" in a parking place within a controlled parking zone before the expiry of a specified period (one hour in my case)
- however, there is an explicit exemption to this restriction for permit holders.
- consequently, I was permitted to a new period of parking commencing from the point I switched off the permit, which allows up to 2 hours of parking from this point in time.
I look forward to your early confirmation of cancellation of this PCN