Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all, hope you can advise on this... First time I've wanted to take a PCN to tribunals, so i think i may have made a big error of the process here:

Context:
Got a ticket on a short residential street behind Leyton main road. I have an office local, and these streets look to have been having a number of changes to the parking rules the past couple of months/previous year.
It was residential mon-fri 9-4pm, then changed to mon-sat 9-4pm, and now they seem to be a mix between the two, even on the same short road. York Rd is a short connecting road between two residential streets, and it has four marked areas to park. In the past they were all mon-fri... Now it seems only one is and the one I was in is mon-sat. I got a ticket on a sat as the side I was on was Mon-Sat (i've included a location link to where i parked - where shopping trolly is). £65 (14day discount) £130 total.

The closest sign for my bay is heavily covered by completely blocked by trees (still is 4 months later) and the sign bright as day across from my car (but other side of road) said mon-fri, and given my history of parking in the area, and i had my 18m old screaming), I parked there. Got a ticket and appealled under "Inadequate Signage Visibility" but was rejected as theres another sign much further down the road that i 'should have looked at' - something I couldn't see from where I parked.

In that rejection letter they said:
""If you wish to take the matter further a Notice to Owner (NtO) will be sent to the registered
keeper of the vehicle in 28 days if no payment is made, you can then make a Formal
Representation after you receive this, I must advise you that at this stage the PCN will be at
the full charge."

... so I read this as wait 28 days and another letter will come and then you can escalate to the courts. I waited without paying.
However, last week I received a Charge Certificate stating that an additional charge has been added to the £130 - now £195.

I emailed saying I never received the NtO as per there letter, and their response was that they have sent this debt to Northampton debt collection. I wonder what I have done wrong here, I want to fight this original PCN but seems i'm with the debt collection company now.

It become very stressful and wondering what the hell is going on to be honest.
The missus says i should have just paid the £65 - i'm starting to agree with her.

I've added all the pics from the day of the area - and the letters I've received. First time posting and tried to navigate the rules, but let me know if i've missed anything.

Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) Number: FR59597524
Vehicle Registration Number: PY60KGA

PCN letter: https://photos.app.goo.gl/G3wpU9MuEaXEaF3n9
Back of letter: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NPQrewEq9hNDT9ee8
Charge Certificate: https://photos.app.goo.gl/owc2oPvTPJfghERM7
Where i parked: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qdgW5oEuX1URqrxa9
                        https://photos.app.goo.gl/AJGuztpiNHFuivzZ6
Sign across the street: https://photos.app.goo.gl/AJGuztpiNHFuivzZ6


Location: https://goo.gl/maps/kxwA2R3c9FasZajy6

Thanks so much for your reply and I will give that page a read as suggested.

Oh, I thought I'd added those details, here they are.
Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) Number: FR59597524 Vehicle Registration Number: PY60KGA

Thanks once again for any help you can offer

That's superb! Thank you wizard cp8759. I really appreciate your guidance

I thought so too, but really reassuring to hear from yourself too. I'll come back once it's moved along as advised above.
Thanks for your input too!

The PCN is sat at £195 at the moment, keep an eye on https://walthamocm.itsvc.co.uk/PCN/ and as soon as it goes up to £204, you can download form TE9, fill it in (remember the applicant is the council, not you) and tick the box to say you never got the NTO, then email it to tec@justice.gov.uk with the PCN number in the subject line.

When the amount due on the council website drops back down to £130, it means the Notice to Owner has been reissued. Let us know when this happens (you'll need to check once every 10 days or so after you've emailed TEC) and we'll help with a representation.

Any questions please ask.

Hi cp8759, I'm just filling out the electronic TE9 form and noticed that the reason for witness statement doesn't mention NTO... it says "I did not receive the penalty charge notice" whereas the paper version I received in the post says "I did not receive the Notice to owner/penalty charge notice"
I'd prefer to use the online version, but wondered if it will be understood by clicking this reason.

Thanks
Tom

Just received the attached letter from the crown court. Confused what it means or what stage I'm at.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Tom

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Council have 28 days beginning with the date the CC was revoked to serve a fresh NTO  or you will win by default

Thank you everyone for your responses and insight. The Letter wasn't that clear to my layman eyes, so good to know things are moving in the right direction. Was just expecting to see a change on the PCN council page, not a letter.