Free Traffic Legal Advice

received a PCN last night for parking on a single yellow line in Manchester at 5:30pm (i believe? the contravention code is 01 - parking in restricted street during prescribed period)

however, the area I was parked in was not within in the controlled parking zone, so the MCC rule of not parking between 8am-8pm didn’t apply. there were ‘no parking’ cones on other roads in the area, but no such signage or warning on the road I was parked on or any sort of parking suspension in place.

I’ve scoured the area and can’t find any signage whatsoever indicating a parking restriction. I’ve parked here several times and seen plenty of other cars parking here without issue

I’m wondering if anyone can advise challenging the PCN - I’ve taken plenty of images showing the lack of signage but am wondering if there’s any way I can defend my case further?

Please read this and update your thread accordingly:-
https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/read-this-first-before-posting-your-case!-this-section-is-for-council-tfl-dartme/

no evidence was provided by the CEO of any signage indicating a restriction was in place

also, reviewing the evidence I’m wondering if they gave the PCN due to me being parked slightly on the pavement? two photos have been taken of my tyres - imo this is quite confusing as I believe this isn’t a law outside of Scotland/London unless specified by a local authority (which in Manchester it isn’t; I’m not blocking the pavement for pedestrians anyway)

without clear signage for the restriction I’m unsure why this would apply

shouldn’t be within the CPZ based on MCC website - I entered from the ring road via Simpson St, no signage indicating restrictions there either.

The CPZ map is city centre only. There are other CPZs. Try and trace your route on Maps to see where you entered and if the sign is reasonable to see and also I wonder how big this zone is. Signing on busy main roads possibly dual carriageways some way off from side streets means signs are easy to miss.

I can see one on maps on the junction between the ring road & corporation st which I would’ve passed - it was dark & I joined to the right lane, giving way to a heavy traffic from my left so it wasn’t clear to me at all that I was entering a CPZ

given the lack of a sign on the right-hand lane of the dual carriageway, worth appealing on this basis?

Please post a GSV link to the above location. Badly placed signs can win at adjudication.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/MA1pZpboTYsK5Kt48

this is the location of the sign 

thanks so much for your help!

thanks so much for your help, attached my draft appeal below & would appreciate any constructive criticism if possible! planning on taking to a tribunal if they don’t accept it



I received a PCN on the 5th of Jan for parking on a single yellow line on Sharp Street in the Angel Meadows area.  However, the signage indicating that this area was within a controlled parking zone is completely insufficient on my journey & it was very challenging to identify the zone on the Manchester City Council website so I’m appealing on this basis.

I entered the parking zone turning right from the inner ring road onto Corporation street, where there is a yellow CPZ sign in place on the left-hand side of the junction. However, I was turning into the right lane onto a very busy dual carriageway & there was thus no clear sign that was visible to me on my side of the road as I was entering the zone. I’ve attached an image showing this junction at a similar time, demonstrating that it’s virtually impossible to see the sign facing away from me on the far side of the road, particularly whilst giving way to oncoming traffic. When I parked on Sharp Street, I checked the surrounding area thoroughly for signage & was unable to find any informing me of the single yellow line restrictions; I also checked ‘The Controlled Parking Zone’ page on the council website and verified that this street was outside of it, which suggested there weren’t restrictions in place. The wording of this webpage doesn’t at all highlight that other CPZs are located outside the city centre

I’ve attached images showing various entrances to the City Centre CPZ, where signage is very clearly visible & often provided on both sides of the road, even on single carriageway streets such as Cambridge Street. The signage when I entered the CPZ should have been provided at both sides of the dual carriageway, so that drivers entering the right lane would pass the sign and be made aware of the parking restrictions.

The Angel Meadows CPZ could also be much more accessible on your website; it can only be found by accessing Controlled Parking Zones > Resident Parking Schemes > Ancoats, Miles Platting & Collyhurst Parking Schemes before accessing a map of this particular CPZ. For people like myself who don’t live in these areas & may not have a good knowledge of the city geography, the restrictions are hence virtually inaccessible on your website.

I’m hence appealing the PCN given that the signage was clearly insufficient for a busy dual-carriageway junction & extremely unclear on your website.