Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hey all, apologies if this is not the right place for this (just let me know and I will repost this elsewhere)

Key Dates
Date of alleged contravention: 10/10/2025
Date of Notice to keeper: 13/11/2025
Amount: £70 as the 14 days 50% discount elapsed
Date I must repond by: 11/12/2025 (28 days from Notice to keeper)

I have received a (Notice to keeper) for my vehicle from Rochdale borough council. I think there must have been a yellow PCN sticker placed on my windshield as the Notice to Owner refers to one being given by a civil enforcement officer.

Thing is, I was not the driver the day this PCN was received and was completely unaware of this! My car was taken to a garage for repairs a few days before I recieved this PCN and I positive this must have been placed on the car a mechanic had finished working on it and the car was awaiting collection. The mechanic parks completed cars on the main road outside the garage once they are finished being worked on, this on School Lane. So this PCN was due to the mechanic parking on presumably a double yellow line.

What are my options here? I dont have any reciept or proof of the car being town to the garage, I only have some reciepts for car parts from 9/10/2025 (the day before the contravention) which the mechanic sent me for some of the car parts being fitted to the car. The mechanic has said simply appeal it and say the car was towed to the garage and they will cancel it but that seemed more like him trying to get me of his back about this situation.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, apologies i'm not well versed with PCNs etc.

Vehicle Reg: AF14SSS
PCN Number: RE12445731

According to this link, appeals can only be made in writing and they don't show you any evidence as such. Its frustrating because I never received the original yellow packet PCN on the windscreen I can't really see what actually happened.

This is my car, I don't know who the driver was at the time that this PCN happened because it was being worked on by the garage the night before, I assume someone there parked it in a stupid place the day the PCN was issues but I have no way to know the exact driver, I've spoken to the garage and they just keep telling me to appeal and say the car was towed to the garage and it will be cancelled but thats it.

So I guess that's my last option? Appeal to the council with as much information as possible showing that the car was being worked on during the time that PCN was issued and pray for the best? Not sure it helps but this is the garage on street view, it gives you an idea for how cars are parked directly outside the garage on the main road once they have been worked on...

OP, for accuracy the NTO, not Notice to Keeper which is a private parking notice, was posted on Thurs. 13th, therefore deemed served on Mon. 17th which a ts as day 1. Day 28 is therefore 14th Dec. (On the issue of accuracy, AF14SSS doesn't give any results on the DVLA database).

+1 to Incandescent's advice. I would stress that you weren't the driver (but accept that the owner is liable) and therefore have no first-hand knowledge of the alleged contravention. Your situation is worsened by the fact that the authority haven't posted any evidence of the contravention, photos are normal practice, and therefore based upon the driver's recollection (an employee of ***** to whom you have spoken) you are making representations on the grounds that the contravention did not occur.

Hey all, so I followed the advice here but unfortunetly Rochdale council are not interested in the slightest... they have acknowledged that I was not the driver but are still demanding I pay. They have also refused me the right to the discounted rate as they say I had the chance to pay but didn't despite me never even getting a PCN which is weird. Posting the letter here for advice on next steps.

 Find the rejection letter

With no re-offer of the discount, it is now a total NO-BRAINER to take them to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, because there are no additional costs, just the PCN penalty if you lose and you could win and pay nothing. Better than just paying these venal idiots, surely ?

Quote from: azy2k9 on December 20, 2025, 10:49:41 pm

Hey all, so I followed the advice here but unfortunetly Rochdale council are not interested in the slightest... they have acknowledged that I was not the driver but are still demanding I pay. They have also refused me the right to the discounted rate as they say I had the chance to pay but didn't despite me never even getting a PCN which is weird. Posting the letter here for advice on next steps.

 Find the rejection letter

With no re-offer of the discount, it is now a total NO-BRAINER to take them to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, because there are no additional costs, just the PCN penalty if you lose and you could win and pay nothing. Better than just paying these venal idiots, surely ?

Sounds like this is the way to go to be honest

+1


Please may we see a copy of your reps.

Am I right in thinking your car was parked where the dark blue van is parked in this 2021 GSV?

This was my original appeal to rochdale councu to them:


PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE: RE12445731
VEHICLE REGISTRATION: AF14SSS

FORMAL REPRESENTATIONS AGAINST PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE

Dear Sir/Madam,
I write to make formal representations against the above Penalty Charge Notice dated 13th November 2025, relating to an alleged contravention on 10th October 2025.

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle but I was not the driver at the time of the alleged contravention. The vehicle was towed to ApexMotorMechanics Unit 2, School Lane, Rochdale (google maps) for repairs on the date in question. I had no control over the vehicle's parking at the time of the alleged contravention as it was in the possession of the garage and their employees.

The Notice to Owner states the contravention was "parking with one or more wheels of the vehicle more than 50cm from the curb." As I was not present and have no first-hand knowledge of the circumstances, I cannot verify whether this alleged contravention actually occurred.

I have spoken to the garage who have outright denied all knowledge of this contravention. However, without having received the original PCN or being able to view any photographic evidence of the alleged contravention, I am unable to properly assess the validity of this charge.

I respectfully request that the council provide evidence of the contravention, specifically photographs showing the vehicle's position relative to the kerb, as is standard practice with most local authorities. In the absence of such evidence and given that I had no control over the vehicle at the time, I believe this PCN should be cancelled.

Should you reject these representations, I intend to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal where I will seek full disclosure of the evidence upon which this charge is based.

I have attached proof that the vehicle was indeed with the mechanics in the form of whatsapp messages with the mechanic and also receipts for the repair.

Proof Below
Proof 1

Please note the timestamp at the top of chat of 10th September 2025. The mechanic messaged me after the time for the contravention which clearly proves I was not in possession of the car when the contravention occurred.

This second image is a receipt for the purchase of the parts used to repair the car which further proves the car was in for repairs.

Proof 2

I look forward to your response.
Yours faithfully,
Muhammed Arslaan Qadus

There is no template, and your original reps look well enough, but you need to find out if this statutory appeal grounds could possibly apply in your case. On the face of it they don't: -

I have highlighted the relevant statutory grounds

Quote

The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022

5.—(1) The recipient may make representations against the enforcement notice to the enforcement authority which served it on the recipient.

(2) The representations must be—

(a)made in the form determined by the enforcement authority, and

(b)to either or both of the following effects—

(i)that in relation to the alleged contravention, one or more of the grounds specified in paragraph (4) apply;

(ii)that, whether or not any of those grounds apply, there are compelling reasons why, in the particular circumstances of the case, the enforcement authority should cancel the penalty charge and refund any sum paid to it on account of the penalty charge.

(3) In determining the form for making representations, the enforcement authority must act through the joint committee.

(4) The grounds mentioned in paragraph (2)(b)(i) are—

(a)the alleged contravention did not occur;

(b)the recipient—

(i)never was the owner of the vehicle in question,

(ii)had ceased to be its owner before the alleged contravention occurred, or

(iii)became its owner after the alleged contravention occurred;

(c)at the time that the alleged contravention occurred, the vehicle in question was in the control of a person who did not have the consent of the owner;

(d)the recipient is a vehicle-hire firm and—

(i)the vehicle in question was at the material time hired from that firm under a hiring agreement, and

(ii)the person hiring it had signed a statement of liability acknowledging their liability in respect of any penalty charge notice served in respect of any relevant road traffic contravention involving the vehicle during the currency of the hiring agreement;

(e)the penalty charge exceeded the amount applicable in the circumstances of the case;

(f)there has been a procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority;

(g)the order which is alleged to have been contravened in relation to the vehicle concerned, except where it is an order to which Part 6 of Schedule 9 to the RTRA 1984 applies, is invalid;

(h)if a regulation 10 penalty charge notice is served under regulation 10(2)(b) or (c) of the 2022 General Regulations, no person prevented a civil enforcement officer from—

(i)fixing a regulation 9 penalty charge notice to the vehicle concerned, or

(ii)handing such a notice to the owner or person in charge of the vehicle;

(i)the enforcement notice should not have been served because—

(i)the penalty charge has already been paid in full, or

(ii)the penalty charge has been paid, reduced by the amount of any discount set in accordance with Schedule 9 to the TMA 2004, by the applicable date as specified in paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 3 to the 2022 General Regulations.

(5) Where a recipient relies on the ground specified in paragraph (4)(b)(ii), their representations must, if the information is known by the recipient, state the name and address of the person to whom the vehicle was disposed of.

(6) Where a recipient relies on the ground specified in paragraph 4(b)(iii), their representations must, if the information is known by the recipient, state the name and address of the person from whom the recipient acquired the vehicle.

(7) Where a recipient relies on the ground specified in paragraph (4)(d), their representations must state the name and address of the person to whom the vehicle was hired at the material time.

( In this regulation—

“alleged contravention” means the alleged relevant road traffic contravention in relation to which an enforcement notice is served;“hiring agreement” and “vehicle-hire firm” have the same meanings as in section 66 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988(1);“the material time” means the time when the alleged contravention is said to have been committed.

Just out of interest, if i appeal, can the tribunal get me a reduced fee if they deem it that the pcn is valid but i didnt actually get the 14 days reduced rate? Can i also include that in my appeal? (something along the lines of i should not be paying this, also they didnt even offer me the reduced rate for the first 14 days, i never got the original pcn)