Here is a draft of my appeal, Please let me know if there is any feedback.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am the registered keeper of the above vehicle and I make the following formal representations against the above Penalty Charge Notice on the statutory ground that the alleged contravention did not occur. I do not admit the contravention and, without prejudice to that position, I also rely on the further matters set out below.
Background – the circumstances of the stop
1. The vehicle was in the process of parking. The driver had identified a vehicle in a marked parking bay immediately ahead whose occupant had already entered that vehicle and closed the door, such that it was evident the bay was about to become vacant. The driver drew up behind that vehicle and waited, for approximately twenty seconds, while the vehicle ahead started its engine and manoeuvred out of the bay into the carriageway. The moment the bay was vacated, the driver parked in it and the vehicle was clear of the bus stop area.
2. While the vehicle ahead was pulling out of the bay and into the live carriageway, it would have been unsafe and impracticable for the driver to proceed: the vehicle ahead was moving across the driver's path, and overtaking a vehicle mid-manoeuvre on its offside into oncoming traffic would have created an obvious risk of collision. In those moments the vehicle was, in substance, prevented from proceeding by circumstances beyond the driver's control. I refer the Council to Schedule 7, Part 6, paragraph 4(2)(b) of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, which expressly excepts “a vehicle which is prevented from proceeding by circumstances beyond the driver’s control or which has to be stopped in order to avoid injury or damage to persons or property”.
3. The stop was momentary and incidental to a lawful parking manoeuvre. The vehicle was not parked, was not left unattended, the driver remained at the controls throughout, and the vehicle moved off and into the bay as soon as the bay was clear. No bus was present at, approaching, or in any way impeded from using the stop during this brief period.
Signage and marking of the alleged restriction
4. There is no upright “no stopping” sign (diagram 974 or similar) at or serving this bus stop on Clayhall Avenue. The Council is put to strict proof that a bus stop clearway restriction was lawfully in force and properly indicated at the material time, and in particular to confirm:
(a) whether the restriction relied upon is a 24-hour bus stop clearway or one operative only during specified times. If the restriction is time-limited, an upright sign indicating the operational times is required for the restriction to be adequately conveyed to drivers, and none is present;
(b) that the road marking relied upon conformed in all respects to diagram 1025.1 of the TSRGD 2016 (including the required broad continuous yellow line) and was complete, unobscured and in a good state of repair at the material time. The Council is requested to provide contemporaneous photographs of the markings and any signage, together with details of the last site inspection;
(c) the legal basis of the restriction (statutory provision and, if applicable, any order) under which contravention 47j is enforced at this location.
5. I further refer the Council to paragraph 13.24.9 of the Traffic Signs Manual, Chapter 3 (Regulatory Signs), which contemplates that upright signing accompanies bus stop clearway markings and states, in terms, that where a time period applies “it will be helpful to drivers if the sign does face oncoming traffic”. In the absence of any upright plate whatsoever, a driver momentarily halted in the course of a parking manoeuvre had no adequate indication of the extent or operative hours of any restriction.
The CCTV evidence
6. The still images served with the PCN show only a short excerpt and do not capture the full sequence of events, in particular the period during which the occupant of the vehicle in the parking bay entered that vehicle, closed the door, started up and manoeuvred out, nor my vehicle subsequently parking in the vacated bay. I formally request disclosure of the full, unedited CCTV footage from camera 3341 covering the period from at least two minutes before to two minutes after the alleged contravention. I am advised that the footage the Council holds does show the other vehicle's driver entering their vehicle and closing the door before driving away, which corroborates the account above.
Proportionality
7. Even if, which is not admitted, a technical contravention is made out, a stop of approximately twenty seconds in the course of taking up an adjacent parking bay, with no bus present or impeded, is de minimis. Enforcement in these circumstances serves no traffic management purpose, and I invite the Council to exercise its discretion to cancel the PCN in any event, as your own Notice indicates you will do where there are suitable mitigating circumstances.
Conclusion
For the reasons above, the alleged contravention did not occur and the PCN should be cancelled. If the Council rejects these representations, please provide with the Notice of Rejection: (i) the full unedited CCTV footage from camera 3341; (ii) site photographs of all signs and markings at the Clayhall Avenue bus stop; and (iii) confirmation of the operative hours and legal basis of the restriction, so that the matter may be pursued before the Environment and Traffic Adjudicators at London Tribunals, where an application for costs will be considered if the Council's conduct is found to have been wholly unreasonable.
