Free Traffic Legal Advice

Thanks all your your responses.

Below I have set out the full chronology of events taking all my posts into a single one.

On 9 November 2025, I parked in the the parking bay directly outside #9 Corbets Tey Road, being the middle bay of the five available, excluding the disabled bay (as shown between the two tress in GSV).

https://maps.app.goo.gl/2xwZgr9aPtBaBdZN6?g_st=ac

Before leaving my car, I checked the nearby parking restriction board outside #13 Corbets Tey Road (Corals betting shop). As it was a Sunday, the standard Mon–Sat restrictions did not apply. Directly beneath that sign, however, there was also a temporary parking suspension notice. The dates printed on that suspension sign were 9–13 October 2025, clearly long expired. The parking suspension I viewed is below set out in the two links below:

https://imgpile.com/p/uNssZyN

https://imgpile.com/p/yjpgL52

I took this to mean there was no current suspension in effect and continued on my way.

When I returned, I found a PCN on my car as follows:

https://imgpile.com/p/kpuFE4i

A passerby then informed me that there was another parking suspension sign on the lamppost at the other end of the row of bays, outside #7 Corbets Tey Road (the shop being Pink Lily). See below GSV  link of where this located - unfortunately, I did not get a picture of this.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xuykP54qzQjMd3G29?g_st=ac

That sign — which I unfortunately did not notice at the time I parked — displayed the correct suspension date covering 9 November, meaning the bay was suspended on the day I parked.

This was the first I became aware that two suspension signs were in place, one showing completely outdated dates (October) and another showing the correct, current suspension. Multiple drivers had apparently been caught out in the same way due to the conflicting signage.

To clarify:

The incorrect suspension sign (which I checked before leaving my car) was located outside Corals.

The correct suspension sign (which I did not see) was positioned at the opposite end, outside Pink Lily.

I have requested evidence from Havering, but as of yet have not heard anything back.

I do have a picture of the incorrect suspended parking sign, but not of the correct one.

I appreciate that failing in my representation will lead to having to pay the full £140 fine. But I genuinely do believe I have grounds for appeal. If the sign had been correct, I would have moved my car immediately.

I hope that helps! Any guidance would be much appreciated and apologies if I have not been clear in my previous messages.

That is an excellent question, and not something I had even realised until now. It is not even close, and 15-minute drive away by the looks of it...

So, not only was the suspended parking sign that I looked at on arrived dated, it also didnt correlate with the location it was placed. 

Hi all,

This is my draft representation, first time doing this so would be grateful for any advice - perhaps a bit too repetitive? Is it worth getting into the fact that the location on the suspended parking sign is also incorrect?

"I am submitting this informal representations against the above PCN. My objection is based on the fact that I did not receive adequate notice of the temporary parking suspension that was in force on the day the PCN was issued, owing to signage that was unclear, incorrect and, (possibly) missing. Consequently, the authority failed to give me the proper statutory notice required for a valid suspension.

On 9 November 2025, I parked in the bay outside 9 Corbets Tey Road. Before leaving my vehicle, I checked the nearby restriction sign, outside 13 Corbets Tey Road. Although it was a Sunday, I also noted the temporary suspension notice directly beneath it. That suspension sign clearly stated 9–13 October 2025. The dates were clearly expired, so I concluded no current suspension applied. Please see attached for a photo of this sign.

On returning to my vehicle I discovered a PCN on the windscreen. It was then that I discovered that a second temporary-suspension sign was in place at the opposite end of the bays covering the 9 November. 

Regardless of this fact, a driver acting in good faith should be entitled to rely on the sign that is most reasonably observable from the point of parking. There is no duty to search the entire length of the parking area for additional notices when the sign nearest the vehicle appears to give clear and unambiguous information.

Given the incorrect and misleading signage, the suspension was not properly signed and I request that the PCN be cancelled."

..nearby(**metres and ** parking spaces away)..

..a temporary notice which bizarrely said........ Dagnam Park Drove, a non-existent road.

..opposite end of the bays, some ** metres and ** parking spaces away.