Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello All,

I had my son’s speech and language therapy appointment at Brent’s Medical Centre. I parked the car off-road in a council-controlled pay and display area a few minutes’ walk from the medical centre.

I purchased a pay and display ticket from the machine and displayed it on my dashboard.

Ticket expiry time: 10:51 AM

Unfortunately, the appointment lasted longer than I had anticipated, and I couldn't leave midway through. There was no mobile reception in the medical centre's speech therapy room, so I could only purchase a new ticket when I had reception at the end of my appointment (I know it's my problem, not the council's.)

So, I purchased a new ticket online using the app at 11:13 AM (22 minutes after the expiry of the pay & display ticket) just as I walked into a mobile network area within the medical centre.

Sadly, at around the same time, and unknown to me, a CEO was observing my car. He observed my car from 11:10 to 11:14 and issued a ticket at 11:14 AM, literally a minute after I had purchased a new parking session.

The front and back of the PCN are here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gNZqdtCywfhqDvIUtI2tSyxNNkAmozyq/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gTAooyZb9ZjehEoFEs3WQJwXZ8RV3ERQ/view?usp=drivesdk

When I walked back to my car at around 11:20 and saw the PCN issued and the CEO nearby, I ran up to him and explained my situation. He said his system didn't show my new session when he was issuing the PCN. He took a picture of the live session on my app but said he couldn't cancel the PCN since it had already been issued. He advised me to challenge it by explaining the situation.

My question to the experts here is whether it's worth making a representation, and if so, what should be my line of argument?

I have two issues that I don't know how to explain and that potentially undermine my representation.

1) 22-minute gap between the two sessions, although I am honest when I say there was no mobile reception and hence I couldn't purchase the second session on time.

2) The first pay-and-display ticket was purchased from the machine. The nearby sign says no return within 2 hours. And yet I purchased an online session after the expiry of the first pay & display ticket. I honestly don't know how this rule applies. The thing is that the app allows session extension, so it is technically the same session getting extended. But the machine only allows new tickets (i.e., a new session when your first ticket expires), so I am not sure if it is treated as two sessions and a breach of the no return within 2 hours condition? My first ticket was physical, and the second an online purchase, so there was no option to extend anyway.

Many thanks in anticipation of some helpful guidance on whether and on what basis to make a representation.

Hello All,

I had my son’s speech and language therapy appointment at Brent’s Medical Centre. I parked the car off-road in a council-controlled pay and display area a few minutes’ walk from the medical centre.

@vaibk are you sure about that? The PCN alleges an on-street contravention and the photos look like they're on-street to me?

















Anyway, this should be really, really simple because at 11:14 a valid session was in force, so the contravention alleged on the PCN did not occur.

Have you got a screenshot of the session you can show us please? Once we have this it will take all of two minutes for me to compose a representation on your behalf.

Remember the only thing that matters is whether there was a valid session at the time stated on the PCN, anything that happened prior to that is irrelevant.

Sorry, that was a typo. I meant on-street and not off-street parking.

Here's the receipt for the second session, which started at 11:13 AM (a minute before the PCN was issued): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gUcLipaHA-NFJuqHjQPVigSzOhfSFvLF/view?usp=drivesdk

As I was nearing the 14-day deadline since the PCN was issued, I already submitted my representation with the text below.

********************************************
Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to formally contest the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) issued to my vehicle on 12/06/2024 at 11:14 AM on Chaplin Road. There are important circumstances that warrant a review of this PCN.

Firstly, the PCN was issued one minute after I purchased the new parking session. This indicates that I made immediate efforts to rectify the parking situation and comply with the parking regulations.

Furthermore, I would like to bring to your attention the reason for the delay in purchasing the new parking ticket. On the date of the incident, I had a speech and language therapy session for my son at the nearby Wembley Centre for Health and Social Care. The therapy room where the session took place had no mobile reception, and it was not feasible for me to leave the therapy midway to purchase a new parking session online. However, as soon as I had mobile reception after stepping out of the therapy room, I promptly purchased the new parking session.

I have been a law-abiding tax-paying resident of Brent for over 14 years, and I have never shied away from paying parking fees, including on this occasion. I take pride in upholding my civic responsibilities and complying with all relevant regulations.

I kindly request a review of the circumstances described above and ask for the cancellation of the PCN in light of the mitigating factors.

I have attached evidence of the speech and language therapy session for my son at the Wembley Centre for Health and Social Care, as well as proof of the subsequent purchase of the parking session. I would be grateful if these could be taken into consideration during the review process.

I look forward to your prompt attention to this matter and a favourable resolution.

Yours sincerely,

A tad hard.

OP, the CEO checked their system when observation started but not before they produced the PCN. Rare, but not unknown.

You were in contravention at 11.10 but not at 11.14.

The PCN will be cancelled if the authority can see the wood of the argument through the trees of extraneous matters.