Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi Everyone,


Was hoping people here might be able to advise me.


My partner was arriving home a couple of weeks ago (22/09/25) and was unable to find parking spaces on our road where there are no parking restrictions. After searching adjacent roads, she parked in a hurry on a road around the corner from ours (about 150 yards away) and failed to see the parking restriction sign that the road is a Controlled Parking Zone, for permit holders only 10am - noon on Monday to Friday.


She'd completely missed the sign, an honest to god mistake, and I even went with her to check on the car about a week later as it was completely out of our view whilst parked on this other street, and we'd not been able to find a spot closer to us as of yet. And there were no tickets issued.


She doesn't use her car very often so we didn't check it for a while until yesterday when we arrived there and found 3 Parking Charge Notices from the council for that week.


   1. 30/09/25 (Tues)
   2. 01/10/25 (Wed)
   3. 03/10/25 (Fri)


It's a bit of a panic now as it appears she's being charged £140 for each ticket (£70 is paid in 14 days) - a £210 or £420 charge is a lot for an honest mistake.


Is there any way that we could get that she only pays the first fine? She definitely would not have left the car there if we'd seen the first ticket.


(Also why wasn't it enforced sooner? She would have moved the car much sooner if we'd realised the week before…)


Any advice would be greatly appreciate - many thanks!

Tickets included below:
https://ibb.co/35SBw90T
https://ibb.co/pYr209L
https://ibb.co/jk2HSVc5
https://ibb.co/zWw4Q0jb

It's a permit parking area - the sign looks very clear but is it clearly visible on the route used.

You could try paying the first and ask for discretion on the other two as a local resident - a two hour zone is usually there to deter commuters.

Thanks for the reply.

You're right - upon finding the tickets we did realise the signs are very visible - think it was stress over finding a spot (it can be quite hard) and the fact the most of the roads around here don't have any parking restrictions.

So just to clarify you're suggesting we write to the council to ask for discretion (not familiar with this term - does it a request to waive the fine?) on the other two on the basis of being a local resident and the two-hour zone being in place to deter commuters.

Would it be best to pay the initial charge first before contacting the council or proposing to pay the first charge in our correspondence with them?

Thanks again.

(Also why wasn't it enforced sooner? She would have moved the car much sooner if we'd realised the week before…)

Your car may have been missed due to a number of reasons e.g. poor weather, short staffing, the officer entering the street to simply tick it off their to-do list. We could speculate all day. In any case, your lack of realisation is not something that the council will take responsibility for.

With this in mind please don't ask, "why wasn't it enforced sooner?" in your representations.

I agree with the previous suggestion that you pay the first PCN, and contest the remaining two on the ground that you are a local resident, and could not find a space on your own road.

For future reference, if you know anybody who lives on any of those 10am - Noon streets, ask them if they can get you a booklet of resident visitor permits. You can make use of them if you ever find yourself needing to park on their streets again. You cannot obtain them as you do not live in the CPZ, but each RVP is only £1.70.

We've actually just gone to pay the first PCN but upon entering the details into the council it turns out there are 4 more charges from earlier than what we thought was first PCN (dated 30/09/25) - these are dated 24/09/25, 25/09/25, 26/09/25 and 29/09/25.

We have now paid the 30/09/25 PCN and have drafted an email to contest the other 2 that I initially mentioned in my original post.

Any advice on how to proceed with the fines we didn't know about which are already beyond the 14-day reduced charge, whilst also attempting to appeal the charges we were already looking to appeal?

OP, would you pl post the reps you've made.

Also pl list, don't include in a narrative but list, the following in date order:
Date of issue;
Last 4 numbers of PCN;
Time of contravention;
The number identifier of the issuing CEO;
For each PCN, the number of PCNs visible on the car in the authority's photos.

For example:
10 Dec; PCN ****;10.25;1256; 2

Some of your comments don't gel such as 'She doesn't use her car very often so we didn't check it for a while until yesterday' from which must follow that the car could have been covered in PCNs and you wouldn't have noticed therefore comments regarding 'why didn't they enforce earlier' (which you made before you realised they had) don't apply because nobody looked at the car for at least 8 days.

There are several lines of defence which would be informed by the facts above.

OP, would you pl post the reps you've made.

Also pl list, don't include in a narrative but list, the following in date order:
Date of issue;
Last 4 numbers of PCN;
Time of contravention;
The number identifier of the issuing CEO;
For each PCN, the number of PCNs visible on the car in the authority's photos.

For example:
10 Dec; PCN ****;10.25;1256; 2

Some of your comments don't gel such as 'She doesn't use her car very often so we didn't check it for a while until yesterday' from which must follow that the car could have been covered in PCNs and you wouldn't have noticed therefore comments regarding 'why didn't they enforce earlier' (which you made before you realised they had) don't apply because nobody looked at the car for at least 8 days.

There are several lines of defence which would be informed by the facts above.

Info as requested:

24 Sept; PCN 4794; 10.23; 1045; 1
25 Sept; PCN 4051; 11.39; 1256; 2
26 Sept; PCN 6547; 11.59; 1256; 3
29 Sept; PCN 5620; 10.57; 1045; unclear but looks like 3 or 4
30 Sept; PCN 4634; 11.08; 1045; 1
1 Oct; PCN 3462A; 10.26; 1256; 2
3 Oct; PCN 7073; 11.53; 1256; 3

My partner sent the following correspondence for each PCN, swapping out the PCN numbers accordingly, except of course for the PCN from the 30 Sept, which she paid as per the advice above:

To whom it may concern,

I am submitting this appeal for PCN RT46827073 (03/10/25).
I am appealing several PCNs issued under the same circumstances but I understand each must be submitted separately. The related notices are: RT46924794 (24/09/25), RT45834051 (25/09/25), RT46826547 (26/09/25), RT47625620 (29/09/25), RT4583462A (01/10/25).
On 05/10/25, I returned to my car and found three PCNs attached to the windscreen (RT45614634, RT4583462A, and RT46827073). However, when I went online on 12/10/25 to pay PCN RT45614634, I was surprised to discover four additional charges dated before 30/09/25. These earlier PCNs were not present on my vehicle when I collected it on 05/10/25, so I was unaware of them and had no opportunity to pay or appeal them within the initial 14-day period.

I have since paid the first PCN (RT45614634, dated 30/09/25), acknowledging my mistake. However, I would like to appeal the remaining PCNs on the following grounds:

1. Genuine oversight as a local resident:
I live nearby on a road with no parking restrictions. On this occasion, I was unable to find a space on my own street and parked on Shrewsbury Road. In a hurry, I unfortunately failed to notice the Controlled Parking Zone signage.

2. Limited vehicle use:
I don’t use my car regularly and therefore did not realise it had been parked in a restricted area for several days, which led to multiple PCNs being issued before I could rectify the situation.

3. Missing notices:
Several of the earlier PCNs were not on my vehicle when I returned, meaning I had no knowledge of them until checking online on 12/10/25. This prevented me from addressing the issue sooner or taking advantage of the reduced payment period.

This was an honest and isolated mistake. I have always been a responsible driver and have rarely ever received any fines of this nature. I also sought advice in an online forum about the situation immediately after discovering the PCNs on 5/10/25, and the explanation I have provided here is the same as what I shared at that time.

Having promptly paid the initial fine that I received, I respectfully request that this PCN - and the related notices - be reviewed and cancelled in light of these circumstances.

Thank you for your time and understanding.
Kind regards,