Hi everyone,
Looking for a quick sanity check on a council parking ticket I’m planning to fight. It's a Regulation 9 PCN from Calderdale Council for a Code 12 (parked in a permit space without a permit).
Long story short, my partner and I had a really rough week after our cat suddenly passed away, and we drove out to Lumb Falls for a calm-down walk. Because stress and anxiety were through the roof, we completely missed the zone entry signs and got hit.
However, looking closely at the paperwork and the council's own online evidence photos, the CEO has made some pretty massive blunders. I think I have a solid case to get this cancelled on a procedural error, but wanted to run it by the experts here first.
Here are the main issues:
They named the wrong road (The big one): The PCN explicitly states the location was "Haworth Old Road". In reality, the car was parked on Cross Ends Lane, right past the junction where Haworth Old Road ends. Both my own photos and the council's portal photos clearly map it to Cross Ends Lane. Since a PCN is legally required to accurately state where the offense happened, surely naming a completely wrong street invalidates the whole ticket? They can't fine me for a road I wasn't actually on.
Tiny observation time: The ticket shows an observation window of just 6 minutes (16:18 to 16:24). For a Code 12, there are standard statutory exemptions for things like quick loading/unloading or letting a passenger out. A 6-minute window is incredibly rushed and doesn't properly rule out those activities, which goes entirely against the Secretary of State's guidance for a fair observation period.
Contradictory photo evidence: The CEO took a tight close-up of my car and a separate photo of a sign, but there isn't a single "context" photo showing where my car sat in relation to the restricted zone. In fact, they bizarrely took a photo of a "Permit parking area ENDS" sign and uploaded it to the portal, which practically argues my case for me—suggesting I was outside the restriction boundary entirely.
Laziness on the vehicle details: The ticket states the car color is "OTHER". The car is very obviously, undeniably a bright silver Hyundai—visible in both their photos and mine. I know a color typo isn't always a standalone winner, but combined with the wrong street name, it really highlights how rushed and sloppy the contemporaneous notes were.
My plan is to submit an informal challenge highlighting the wrong location and the rushed observation time, while also throwing in a polite note about the mitigating circumstances with our cat.
Does the forum reckon the wrong street name is a slam-dunk win here? And is there any specific way I should frame the location error so the council appeals team doesn't try to wiggle out of it?
Thanks a lot!
