Thanks for your help everyone. I'm not sure I have the ability to write in the very best tone but this is what I've drafted so far. Feel free to make corrections and additions, and thanks again!
Dear...
The car HK07AKO was parked on The Drive in one of the ‘parking bays’ late one night last week. Upon leaving the vehicle, I looked at the back wheel closest which was very much within the parking bay and a good distance from the yellow line. However, the whole of the ground was covered in leaves and it wasn’t possible to see, in the dark on a very badly lit road, that although the nearside was away from the yellow line, it was outside of the ‘parking bay’. This has never been a problem before, and with cars being much larger now than when the road was built, many cars along The Drive overhang the markings. For this reason, I find it very unfair that I received a ticket.
However, I have also ascertained that the Code 24 (Not parked correctly within the markings of the bay or space) is not enforceable. Code 24 refers to a ‘parking bay or space’ which is not what this area is designated as. In order for Code 24 to be enforceable, the space has to be sign posted with a ‘P’ sign for ‘Parking’ which is detailed in Schedule 5, Part 1 of Regulation 3, Direction 3 of The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016.
The area of The Drive is not a designated CPZ in Bromley and therefore does not have any restrictions on parking in the bays. The road markings referred to in the PCN are not enforceable as this bay, and indeed all the bays, have no signage for parking as described in The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 under Schedule 7, Part 1. The area of The Drive has Controlled Parking but this signage (attached) only refers to the parking on single yellow lines at certain times, not the ‘parking bays’ marked out in the road.
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