Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi, great site but I fear I may have found it too late for this case!

I parked in a 30 minute loading bay near my warehouse after receiving a text from a supplier saying good were left outside. It's just a regular loading area and is not restricted to commercial vehicles. I arrived, parked in the loading area, walked around to the warehouse, unlocked and collected the heavy goods, packing them from front of my premises where they had been left (for anyone to steal) onto a trolley. I then walked back to my car to find the warden walking away and ticket issued. I had been about 7 minutes or maybe 8. I have written to the council to explain this and also provide my own proof of delivery. I have provided proof of my business address and proof I own the business to the council.

I find it very odd that "30 minutes loading" doesn't take into account the distance you may have to travel or your travel time with heavy goods. I also have to cross a busy road both there and back.

The only thing that my have tripped me up is I explained in my response I had to "walk, unlock premises, pack and return to vehicle" or similar. They do state "packing" is not allowed in your loading time on a response but pack in in this instance "packing" is putting a box onto a trolley.

As I said I probably found this site too late for this ticket as it's now at the stage where a Notice to the Owner will be issued in a bout 7-8 days and I have to decide if I should wait for that and continue challenging this or just pay the £80 now.

I can attach the most recent letter if this helps.

Thanks so much for your help with this.

Oliver

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Thanks for the replay, appreciated. The warehouse is at the end of the alleyway Craft Metropolis, Arch 263, 241 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8RR. The loading bay is behind Tesco on Belinda Road SW9. Thee's no actual commercial or residential properties opposite or near the loading area other than rear door for Tesco. The area is about 8 to 10 car spaces long. It's shown on the map with the black line. The access to the alleyway to my property is shown by the arrow. Cheers

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The DYL adjacent to the alleyway do not prohibit loading. The sign which is obscured in the 2024 GSV is clear in 2023 and bans loading to its left, not right.

OP, you have until 25th to pay the discount.

OP, pl explain the issue of the trolley. In general terms, you should not take longer loading than necessary. If you had not had access to a trolley how would you have moved the load from where it was left and how many journeys would this have necessitated?

For example:
3 journeys' worth of load if carried by hand * 4 minute walk each way = 24 mins and your vehicle being left unattended initially for 8 minutes.

Whereas:
2 journeys' worth of load (walk to site, get trolley, load, return to car, load vehicle, return trolley to site then return to car) with 4 minutes(say) to load trolley = 20 minutes.

We need more info about the load e.g. boxed or loose, what form, quantity etc.

As you say, I think your use of terms caused the council to respond as they did. Depending on your details, better-worded representations could succeed.