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I parked in the white box demarcation of a red route. The demarcation area had a sign which said the controlled hours are 7am to 7pm and I parked outside of these hours so should be exempt from any of the rules. However, I did have a disabled badge which was also presented as standard. I believe I parked less than 3 hours. The fine was receieved at 23:47 outside of controlled hours, which is the important point.

After talking to Simmon's bar management next door, they informed me that the council repaved the road around Dec 2023 and the contractors painted the whole street as it was raining (possibly to do it quicker). Later they came back to paint the white line box demarcations but did not remove the red line inside this white box demarcation specifically at this spot. Since Dec 2023 to now they have been fining people in this white box demarcation and reaping all the profits!

Would you please help me fight this case and advise who I should approach to expose them and get a court ruling to reverse all the thousands of fines that have likely been issued since Dec 2023 incorrectly? I will probably have to start with a FOI request for the number of fines in this area and then approach someone like Thisismoney to expose the case better.

I have circled in yellow the fence posts of the property behind my car (the black volvo) and also circled this area in the subsequent days when I went back to photograph the boxed white area (this time i couldn't park there as white van was there). The red circle shows the painting of the face on the wall. Google maps images from a few years ago shows some differences to the current street: the painting on the wall has changed and the boxed area used to not have red lines in it.

Please could you help me to word a response to TFL. I have till end of this week Fri 12th April to post an informal appeal which I aim to do.

Google Maps Link to Location: the boxed area is right in front of the UAL entrance
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VJsdWJzxEy8DPFiT6

There isn't enough upload space to post all my photos, please see the album with all images here:
https://ibb.co/album/f8Zjyb

Thank you so much for all your help,
Naz

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Appologies, i've now put the full PCN up as two images. It's a very long page but nothing on opposite side.

Google link location is in original post, made it shorter

All it says in terms of Contravention is below and very vague as you pointed out:

"In circumstances giving me reasonable cause to believe that the vehicle was stopped where prohibited (on a red route or clearway)"

Hi, any further advice regarding this ticket before I respond please?

Thanks

Please help me modify this challenge and advise, I have till tomorrow before i will miss the "informal appeal" two week deadline.

*******************
Dear Sir/Madam,

Penalty Charge Notice: GF84042729
Vehicle registration number: YS67 ZZL

I am writing to submit an informal appeal with regards the above parking ticket. I am making my appeal due to the following reasons:

The alleged contravention did not occur

I parked at the location shown in the CEO's photos outside the controlled hours of the restrictions, ie after 7pm and left before 7am.

The CEO took 3 photos, two of the front of my car and one of the rear.

Of these photos, one, numbered no.1 on TfL's website, clearly shows my car adjacent to double red lines on its offside while at the same time showing white dash marked on the carriageway parallel to the DRL. This was the parking bay in which I was parked.

None of the CEO's photos shows a traffic sign which should have been documented by the CEO.

At the time of receiving the fine, I was in absolute shock and could not understand why this penalty had been given.  Due to the shock I only took one photo showing the traffic sign right next to my car. The time and date location is shown in the screenshot of the image properties (photo 1)

Examination of my photos of the location taken on subsequent days (when a white van was parked at the same location) shows that I was parked within a white parking bay, within which were double red lines and adjacent to a traffic sign.

A comparison of the CEO’s photos and the photos I took of this location on a subsequent day show that these locations are the same based on this evidence:

Photo 2: Marking A (yellow circle). The fence posts of the building adjacent to UAL (University of arts of London) is visible circled in yellow

Photo 3: Marking B (red circle). The painting on the wall is circled in red.

Photo 4 & 5: The drain on the ground circled in red show my cars position and then the subsequent days the white vans position in relation to this drain. Ie. Showing that these vehicles are both in the same location in the white bay

Photo 6 & 7: Lane photos of this location show two driving lanes marked Lane One and Lane two followed by a Parking bay. The CEO’s photos show the same thing: my parked vehicle in a parking bay followed by two driving lanes.

Photo 8: showing the rules for white parking bays on red routes from TFL website

In addition to the above evidence, the traffic sign comprises 3 panels and follows the format given in TfL's publication and website 'Rules of Red Routes' and I quote the text from this publication:

“Our signs are quite distinct from other road signs and generally have three parts to inform you of the restrictions and exemptions in place at a particular bay.

The top of the sign tells you that you are on the red route. The middle tells you when the rules apply, the times differ in each borough so always check the sign. The bottom tells you the times and activity you can use the bay for.”

In this case:

The middle panel states: No stopping on any day 7am-7pm;
The lower panel states: Except loading max 20 minutes; Blue badge holders max 3 hours.

From the above, the following legally follow:

TfL have improperly signed a red route because it is not permissible to have a white or red bay with internal red route markings of any sort, let alone double red lines.

According to TfL, the traffic sign conveys a prohibition for the hours of 7am to 7pm only ('the middle [panel] tells you when the rules apply');
That as the alleged contravention occurred at 23.47, in reality it could not and did not occur and the PCN must be cancelled.

Incidentally, I also had a disabled badge displayed for the person that I had dropped off. However this is secondary to the main point which is that I was outside the controlled hours for this parking pay and therefore the contravention did not occur.

I shall write to the authority separately regarding the improper and therefore misleading signs and signage which must be rectified as a matter of urgency.  I will also be requesting as a matter of urgency, an enquiry into officer 1062 who carefully selected their photos to not show the traffic sign and to attempt to mislead by taking angles of photos so as to obscure the parking bay.

After talking to the businesses adjacent to this location, I have confirmed that this is standard practice by the traffic wardens frequenting this location.

Kind regards.

Yours faithfully,

ALL PHOTOS to be sent can be found here: https://ibb.co/album/bHBTTr

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Just to update you i'm still waiting on their response, given the wait I anticipate they have gone to investigate the error in their marking and I expect they are shitting themselves of the number of refunds for parking tickets they will have to give going back almost 6 months since the bay was incorrectly red marked.

Also the photo you requested in the previous message can be found here in image 2b
https://ibb.co/album/f8Zjyb

Thanks

@sahandnaz it's not an informal appeal, it's an informal representations. By pure chance I got this FOI response from TFL:

https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-0233-2425

So the bay designation has not been changed, and the orders I posted above are the only ones that exist. If there is a conflict between the signs and the order, the order prevails.

You don't need to respond, just wait for the notice to owner. It's work keeping an eye on the PCN status on https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/challenge-a-pcn because you can make representations as soon as the NTO is issued, you don't need to physically receive it in order to challenge it.

If the street signs convey one restriction and the order (the legal paperwork which governs the restriction) conveys a different restriction, then it's the order which counts.

@cp8759 or @MrChips so does this mean I dont have a case for winning?

@sahandnaz no it's the other way round: you're highly likely to have a winning appeal.

You're likely to have a winning appeal in any event because where the signs and lines are contradictory, there is no contravention. I won an almost identical case on this basis last year, see Muhammad Adnan Aslam v Transport for London (2220794881, 17 May 2023), the only difference in that case is that there were no bay markings, just double red lines and an upright sign.