Free Traffic Legal Advice

Is she bang to rights?

Not necessarily.
When councils impose a traffic restriction they have a duty under Regulation 18 of the The Local Authorities’ Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996 to place adequate signage informing motorists of the restriction.  I see the PCN shows your wife's car making a left-hand turn. Appeals have been won on signage where there is no advance warning, and the sign is only visible until the vehicle is committed to the turn.

A look at the video shows two signs positioned excessively high, ridiculously high in my opinion. Somewhere within The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, it states the height at which regulatorty signs should be mounted. Here they look so wildly ridiculous as to beggar belief in the sanity of council officials in charge of sign placement.  Here is the location: -
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AxzPzH1W2LjyVWUu8
GSV is not up-to-date here, but does show the height of the old regulatory signs. However, look on the video of the alleged contravention and compare the height of the new signs with the old direction arrow signs. The height is just absurd, and if it were me, I'd be taking them to London Tribunals for not placing adequate signage. I would say they are so high as to be virtually unreadable bu a motorist sitting in a car.

So, do the councils want you to stop while in your car in the middle of the road, or are you supposed to know that there is a pedestrian zone beforehand?

No, of course not.
What if you were an aunt living in Aberdeen who had driven down to see her cousin ? The signs must be adequate and here they aren't, but councils get away with stuff like this, because people are terrified of losing at adjudication, and having to pay the full penalty. Councils know this, so refuse virtually all representations. Yes, they are scammers. Essentially they rob by Act of Parliament.

The only thing we don't know is whether there is an advance warning sign of the restriction. If there is the signs argument has less power. But with GSV being out-of-date here, you need to go down the relevant street and look for one and let us know. If there is one, take a photo of it and post it here.

So my sister went back to the road in question and she confirms there were signs on the road...


A by Zee Aze, on Flickr

B by Zee Aze, on Flickr