Free Traffic Legal Advice

I was given a gift yesterday under my windshield wiper for being parked on Litchfield Street on a double yellow line. Quite unfortunate given I was only gone for 6 minutes after having thought "They don't really check every street every time do they?", I guess they do.

PCN is attached to this post but the important, hopefully prejudicial, parts of the text are also below. Thank you for reading.

City of Westminster
Penalty Charge Notice Traffie Management Act 2004
PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE NUMBER: ...
Date of service of this notice: 20/08/2023
Vehicle Registration Number: ...
Was seen at location:
Litchfield Street [61]
At: 20:30 on: 20/08/2023
By Civil Enforcement officer WS6697 who believed that the following parking contravention had been committed and that a penalty charge is therefore payable: Code 01
Parked in restricted street during prescribed hours

Full Amount of the Penalty Charge : £130
The penalty charge must be paid not later than the last day of the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which this penalty charge notice was served ('the 28 day period )

A reduced charge of £65 is payable
If the penalty charge is paid not later than the last day of the period of 14 Days beginning with the date on which this notice is served ('the reduced charge period'), the penalty charge will be reduced by 50%. If the penalty charge is not paid within the reduced charge period, the full amount of the penalty charge is payable

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PLEASE DO NOT MAKE PAYMENT IF YOU WANT TO CHALLENGE THIS PCN

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Overleaf:

...
If the penality charge is not paid within the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which the alleged contravention occurred, the City of Westminster, the enforcement authority, may serve a Notice to to Owner on the owner of the vehicle. A person on whom a Notice to Owner is served will be entitled to make representations to the enforcement authority against the penalty charge and may appeal to an independent adjudicator if those representations are rejected.
If we receive representations before a Notice to Owner is served, those representations will be considered. If however a Notice to Owner is served notwithstanding those representation, then representations against the penalty charge must be made in the form and manner and at the time specified in the Notice to Owner.
If we receive representations against the penalty charge not later than the last day of the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which the Penalty Charge Notice is served but do not accept the challenge, we will issue a rejection letter to the person who made the representations and in will allow a further 14 days from the date the rejection letter is issued which to pay the reduced penalty charge.
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Off-topic: I've posted it here on these forums because while looking for similar PCNs on Pepipoo, I saw someone mention that the forum is shutting down in November. That's quite sad but is the reason I've posted this thread here. If I should post on both, please let me know and I will do so. Thank you.

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As an ex resident of Westminster I can assure you that their CEOs hunt in packs.

On the face of it you are bang to rights.

The only exemption would be for loading or assisted alighting (if there are no kerb blips to go with the double yellow lines).

Mike

There was no dropped kerb on that street if this is what you meant by kerb blips.

Regarding the exemption for loading, what would that entail?

Also, here's the Google Street View of the road: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5127672,-0.1283898,3a,75y,85.82h,83.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGKKX8ca9WhmjQJRYfo3osQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

As per the guidance here https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/read-this-first-before-posting-your-case!-this-section-is-for-council-tfl-dartme/ please post the PCN with no redactions, or just give us the PCN number and number plate.

On the photographic evidence the contravention appears made out:







However there is something very strange going on with the traffic orders. The City of Westminster (Waiting and Loading Restriction) (Consolidation No. 1) Order 2011 creates a restriction on page 300 (item 271) which is replaced by item 271 on pages 7 and 8 of The City of Westminster (Waiting and Loading Restriction) (Amendment No. 282) Order 2017:



Number 26 is Adelphoi Music and number 27 is Souk, so it seems reasonable to assume that number 28 is the property to the east of Souk (google suggests number 28 is on the other side of the road, but I think that's just wrong). This means there is a length of yellow line not backed by a waiting restriction:



I think you car was parked within this section, so it appears that no contravention occurred. Would you be able to go back and get us some more accurate measurements? Ideally we'd want the distance from the party wall of numbers 27 and 28, up to the "meter" manhole cover seen behind your car.

Also, why did you park there?

As for why I parked there, there were severe delays on the underground at the time so I drove to drop my mother off at a restaurant. I quickly escorted her there because she was using crutches to walk.

Pity you didn't tell us this earlier, because you could have claimed the board/alight passengers exemption - assisted exemption.

She is not a blue badge holder but she has been using crutches due to a personal injury some months ago. I would be able to source doctor's notes or other proofs of the injury if it would be useful. I looked up the eligibility of a BB and I'm not sure that a fractured foot will suffice.

Which signage are we claiming is inadequate? I assume if we go with the assisted alighting route (apologies I didn't know what this was earlier) we aren't also bundling in the other defences.

Ok then, I will just try to give them the truth and hope for the best.

The restaurant was one nearby but she did not have a reservation and it was too busy so we went a little further out, but still within 3 mins walk from the car.

Draft:

I am writing to formally appeal against the Parking Charge Notice issued to my vehicle on the 20/08/2023 with PCN Number WE51358534. I believe that there are extenuating circumstances that should be taken into consideration in this case.

On the aforementioned date, I found myself in a situation where I needed to park my vehicle temporarily on a double yellow line on Litchfield Street. The reason for this was to provide assistance in escorting an injured person, who was traveling in my vehicle, to a nearby restaurant "Rasa Sayang". The injured individual has a fractured foot as a result of a recent collision with a vehicle as a pedestrian.

Given the lack of available parking spaces in close proximity, and after circling for some time to find a free parking spot, I made the decision to park on the double yellow lines to ensure the injured person's safety and well-being whilst walking to this restaurant, otherwise aided only by crutches. Once I had assisted the injured person, I immediately returned to my vehicle, after no longer than 6 minutes had passed (based on the date of a photo I took of the road sign to remember where I had parked).

I understand the importance of adhering to parking regulations, but I firmly believe that the circumstances in this case warrant an exception.

I kindly request that you review my representation and take these exceptional circumstances into account when considering this appeal. I am more than willing to provide any additional information or documentation that may be required to substantiate my claim. Moreover, I am fully committed to complying with parking regulations under normal circumstances and will continue to do so in the future.

I trust in your understanding and fairness in evaluating this appeal. I look forward to your response regarding the outcome of this representation. Please notify me of your decision at your earliest convenience.