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Please see  the draft of my initial appeal to the council that was rejected below. Any ideas on what to add/remove for the next challenge?

"I am writing to formally appeal the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) I received on 22/06/2023 for an alleged parking violation at Atherton Street. I respectfully request that you review the circumstances surrounding this incident, as I firmly believe that the ticket was issued in error.

According to the PCN, I was accused of parking in a suspended parking zone between 19 to 25 Atherton Street. However, I would like to bring to your attention that I was, in fact, parked directly in front of 27 Atherton Street, which was not part of the suspended area. I have attached pictorial evidence that clearly shows my vehicle parked legally in front of the aforementioned address during the time specified on the PCN.


I kindly request that you carefully review the attached evidence, which clearly demonstrates that my vehicle was not parked in a suspended zone. I trust that upon examination, you will acknowledge the error and promptly cancel the penalty charge.

In light of this situation, I kindly ask for your understanding and swift resolution to rectify this matter. I appreciate your attention to this appeal and I kindly request that you respond in writing to confirm the cancellation of the PCN. Should you require any further information or clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter."

Here is the link with the PCN and reg numbers

This was the evidence I previously sent.

https://imgur.com/a/Exg4sq9

Here is the rejection of the appeal by the council

https://imgur.com/a/8GbJMdT

I just measured the distance between 19 and 25 and the distance is 21.1 metres.

I found on the website below that the average car length in the UK is around 4.4 metres.

https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/guides/ask-nvc/understanding-car-size-and-dimensions#:~:text=What%20is%20standard%20size%20car,1821mm%20wide%2C%20and%201534mm%20tall.

Thanks DancingDad.

I am planning to send the draft below as my appeal. Any suggestions please?

"The measured span between the starting point at 19 Atherton Street and the conclusion at 25 Atherton Street is 21.1 meters. According to The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (TSRGD), a parking bay must have a minimum length of 4.5 meters. This unequivocally demonstrates that the vehicle is not situated within the designated area for four parking spaces as indicated on the suspended parking sign."

It's going to be difficult to produce definitive evidence about what exactly 4 car spaces means, so I suggest putting the burden of doing that on to the council. I'd go with something along the lines of:

"When I parked my car I read the suspension notice and diligently made sure that I left the required 4 car spaces behind me. If the council believe that there were less than 4 car spaces behind my vehicle at the time that I parked, I require the council to provide me with a copy of whatever evidence they have that proves this point (including their definition of the length of a "car space" and the legal argument they intend to make that justifies this definition) so that I can make an informed decision about taking this case to the parking tribunal."

I had a very similar situation a few years ago and won on appeal at London tribunal. In summary, the adjudicator sided with me as on balance there was too much ambiguity around whether a contravention occurred. I post below an extract of the adjudicators concluding comments:

The appellant in evidence before me highlighted referring to his written submissions, videos and photographs that the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 provided at schedule 7, part 5 paragraphs 2(4) and 2(5) that generally where bays were divided to indicate a parking space
then the length of the space was not to be less than 4500 with the maximum length of a parking bay
maybe 6.6 m when considering spaces for disabled badge holders. Therefore on his calculations
(using videos to demonstrate his calculations and position of his car) at 4.5 metres, 5 car spaces
would be approx. 22.5 metres and his car was parked at least at 24.1 metres.
I have considered the totality of the evidence before me and I find that I cannot be satisfied on balance that the signage which highlight the suspension is adequate or clear for the purposes of the
authority discharging their duties in demonstrating that the reasonable driver would have been aware
of the exact length of the suspended bays. There is some ambiguity as to the length of a bay and further the exact length of the suspension was not properly marked out end to end in order to avoid any ambiguity.
I find therefore given the totality of the evidence before me on balance, which includes lack of
adequate signage and the fact that the Appellant's vehicle is seen parked at the very edge of what might be the 5 suspended spaces, then this leads me to the conclude there is some ambiguity as to
whether there is an actual contravention. For these reasons I therefore allow the appeal.

Case Reference: 2210026624