Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all,

Upon entering the residential road of Yew Grove in Barnet, London in the evening around 7pm. The driver, a bit confused by the sign decided to park in the spot behind this sign leading onto the road.



To make sure it was okay to park, the driver checked the code 5836 on the paybyphone website and saw it was okay to park:


The driver even booked a virtual permit just to make sure!


The driver was parked behind the sign here where the bikes are https://maps.app.goo.gl/MnmoXKwLiZrhmLFX6. Because the driver parked behind the sign before the residential area it was assumed that it was part of the shared parking space.

Alas, the driver still got a PCN from the council not long after.
On the PCN it says the driver was parked approximately here

which is well before the sign onto the residential area.

In the photos taken by the council you can see the driver parked behind the parking sign.

The PCN received had the following information (I have also attached as an attachment):

Street: YEW GROVE, Resident permit holders only
Contravention Code: 12
Contravention: Parked in a residents` or shared use parking place or zone without a valid virtual permit or clearly displaying a valid physical permit or voucher or pay and display ticket issued for that place where required, or without payment of the parking charge

I believe the driver had valid virtual permit but not sure if that's for a residential permit or parking permit. Either way I believe the driver has been wrongly given a PCN. Would this be disputable?

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If you are the driver, then please tell us. Who was driving is irrelevant....

Hi @Incandescent, I was the passenger and I am posting on behalf of the driver who is the owner of the vehicle. Now you point out that it is parking from 5:30 onwards for residents only, the sign is starting to make sense, the paybyphone app allowing a booking threw us off at the time.

The sign for residents permit also says from 5:30 and doesn't indicate am or pm, not sure if that makes any difference

Good point, but I don't think it shifts the odds in your favour when the sign is read as a whole. It is the council that have mandated use of PayByPhone app, so your reps should concentrate on why the app they mandate that you use to park there, allows a payment to be made within the resident permit times.

They are unlikely to let you off this and we often see phone apps taking payment when they shouldn't - did you pay anything or did it just register a free period?

I just registered a free period. Not helping my case is it?