PCN MD03548065
I am challenging this PCN on the grounds that the contravention did not occur.
The objective facts as shown in the council's own evidence are:
1. My car stationary on an unmarked length of highway;
2. A Pedestrian and Cycle Zone sign complying with Diagram 618.3C which is prescribed at Item 2 in the Part 2 Sign Table of Schedule 8 to the Traffic Signs Regulations and which carries the following mandated description:
Entry to, and waiting in, a pedestrian and cycle zone restricted for motor vehicles other than electric scooters being used in a trial.
I have highlighted those parts which form the basis of my challenge.
I accept that Maidstone Council is only the Enforcement Authority's agent and may therefore not be responsible for placing regulatory signs and markings and possibly not been briefed as to the correct legal effect of the sign in this case. If you are in any doubt on the matter please consult your legal officers or Kent County Council.
The fact is that the sign does not create a loading prohibition, it conveys a 24/7 waiting restriction and various moving traffic/entry restrictions. The fact that vehicles engaged in loading may only enter during permitted hours does not mean that a stationary loading prohibition exists outside those hours, it means that vehicles may not enter to load outside those hours.
As the cited contravention description requires there to have been a breach of both a waiting and loading restriction and as no such loading restriction exists then the PCN has been issued in error and must be cancelled.
