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Hello,

I would appreciate some advice regarding an Ealing Council PCN.

The vehicle was parked lawfully before 15:00 in a residents/shared use bay.

The bay is unrestricted outside controlled hours and permit holders only between 3pm and 4pm.

The restriction commenced at 15:00.

CEO observation time is recorded as 15:08 to 15:11.

PCN was issued at 15:11 for contravention code 12R.

My challenge was rejected. Ealing’s response states that because I was parked without a permit, the statutory 10-minute grace period does not apply.

However, my argument is that the vehicle was lawfully parked before the restriction came into force at 15:00.

Does the statutory 10-minute grace period apply in these circumstances, and are there any London Tribunals decisions dealing with a similar scenario?

I have attached the PCN, council rejection letter and photos.







Best regards,
Yac

Thank you.

Just so I understand your view correctly, are you saying that the 10-minute grace period would apply because the vehicle was lawfully parked before the restriction commenced at 15:00, but that the PCN is still valid because it was issued at 15:11?

In your experience, do you think this is worth pursuing to the Tribunal, or would the chances of success be quite limited?

Many thanks.

To add a bit more...

We've had mixed success with this but our reading of the law is that provided you were in a designated parking place the 10 mins does apply.

But at 15:11 that means you were over 10 mins as 15:10 and zero secs is 10 mins but as they don't take seconds into account you have in effect until just before the end of the 11th minute. At 15:11 you are starting the 12th min.  

Is my reading.   

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2.—(1) The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007(2) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 4 (imposition of penalty charges)—

(a)re-number the existing provision as (1);

(b)at the end insert—

“(2) Paragraph (3) applies in relation to a contravention mentioned in subparagraph (a) to (c) of paragraph (1) where a vehicle is stationary in a designated parking place and the vehicle has been left beyond the permitted parking period.

(3) No penalty charge is payable for the contravention where the vehicle has been left beyond the permitted parking period for a period not exceeding 10 minutes.

(4) In this regulation—

(a)“designated parking place” means a parking place established by virtue of an order made under section 1, 6, 9, 32(1)(b), 35 or 45 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984(3);

(b)“permitted parking period” means—

(i)a period of parking that has been paid for as authorised by or under any order made relating to the designated parking place; or

(ii)a period of parking for which no charge is payable as authorised by or under any order made relating to the designated parking place.”

Thank you.

You mentioned that you’ve had mixed success with similar cases. Were those Tribunal cases involving the same issue of a vehicle being lawfully parked before a restriction commenced?

If you happen to know of any relevant Tribunal decisions or case references, I would be very interested to read them.

Many thanks.

Thank you.

I note that there seem to be two different views in this thread. Some contributors appear to consider that the 10-minute grace period did apply, whereas your view is that it did not apply because the vehicle was no longer in a designated parking place once the permit-holder restriction came into force.

Are there any Tribunal decisions that specifically address this point?

Many thanks.

Thank you all for your comments.

One point I am still unclear about is the CEO observation period. The CEO began observation at 15:08, before the expiry of the 10-minute grace period.

I appreciate that the PCN itself was issued at 15:11, but does the fact that observation and evidence gathering began before the grace period had fully elapsed have any relevance in law or in Tribunal decisions?

Many thanks.

No one has said you have a case. I was referring to cases where people were within the 10 minute and the rejection you queried is about not having a permit. But you were over 10 mins.

Observation is only about checking for exempt activity - what were you doing? And of course the CEO waited for the 10 min expiry to be sure of the contravention.