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( BRENT COUNCIL - LOCATION O/S NO 38) Contravention code - 27.
Today I had to collect my car from the pound AND pay a PCN after having parked one wheel over dropped curb. I was not obstructed access into or out of the nearby driveway and raised part of the curb was so small that it was impossible to have parked without a part of the car overhanging on either side of the curb. There was a sign saying any illegally parked car would be removed but i didn't see the illegality of my parking. I understand the parking fine of £65 but £200 for the removal of the car just seems absurd. There was no obstruction caused. I have attached pictures and would appreciate any help.





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@kaybee5 the law (and specifically section 86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004) does not require there to be any obstruction, the law simply says it's a contravention for your car to be parked adjacent to a dropped kerb, which you car blatantly was.

As above, please post up the PCN (both sides in full) and all the paperwork you were given at the car pound, I think we're going to have to try and find a technical appeal for this one.

However there is no reason not to pursue this to the tribunal, because you've paid all that there is to pay so you cannot end up any worse off by taking this to adjudication.

It's not a court. It's a tribunal. But no that argument is not really any help.

That potential parking area is small, but many spaces are too small for many vehicles. You could probably have fitted a motorbike in there for example.

Thank you all for your responses. Here are the rest of the documents provided to me at the time of collection from the pound. I was unable to upload these before due to file size restrictions. These along with the others uploaded in my previous reply are everything i received. Really appreciate the responses

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Taken from Brent council policy London Borough of Brent Parking Policy 2020 :

 https://www.brent.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/parking/parking-policy-2020

3.160 " White  line  markings  are  advisory  and  are  intended  to  act  as  a  deterrent  to thoughtless parking. However, enforcement is possible in some circumstances. The London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003 (section 14) allows the Council  to  issue  Penalty  Charge  Notices  to,  or  remove,  vehicles  parked  across dropped  footways.  This  includes  places  where  the  footway  is  dropped  to  allow pedestrians to cross the road more easily. 3.161In cases where a dropped footway is there to provide access to a driveway which is for  individual  residential  premises  (and  not  a  business  or  shared  with  other premises),  then  enforcement  action  can  only  be taken  when  the  occupier  of  the premises requests the local authority to do so. This means that it is not an offence for  a  residential  occupier  to  park  across  his  or  her  own  driveway.  The  Council operates  a  telephone  service between  the  hours  of  8am  and  10pm  (except Christmas Day) which allows residents to ask for the removal of a vehicle which is blocking their driveway."

6.27 "The  Council  provides  a  vehicle  removal  service. In  practice,  removal  is  focused  on  more  serious offences,  such  as obstructive  parking which  affects road  safety or creates traffic  congestion. Avehicle  is  eligible for  removal  if  it  remains  in  a pay  and  display or shared use bay for more than 30 minutes after a PCN has been issued. If  a vehicle is  involved  in  persistent  contraventions,  and has  three  or  more  PCNs outstanding, the removal period may be reduced to 15 minutes. In the case of other types  of  parking  offence  (such  as  obstructive  parking  on  a  yellow  line),  the  vehicle may be removed immediately."

As far as I can see, HCA has pointed you to a "procedural impropriety". This is one of the statutory grounds for an appeal at the adjudicators. But first you must submit representations to the council.

I've drafted a much longer version but will keep because cp's draft should be sufficient.

Suffice to say that:
Their policy is defective because it is based upon statutory guidance issued in 2015 whereas the current version is Oct 2022. The council must have regard to the current guidance but clearly can't if they rely on their out-of-date policy which does not reflect the guidance's references to removal.

In addition, the policy draws upon repealed legislation for the council's power to issue PCNs for parking at access ways - and remove vehicles which was never a power under that Act anyway!

And them misleading you with their references to revoked 2007 Regs! 

What a procedural shambles.

If the PCN is cancelled, then the tow charges must be refunded