Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all,

Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) Number: FR60945661
Vehicle Registration Number: BW67JFZ

I recently received a parking PCN for parking without a valid permit on Barrett Road in Walthamstow. On this street, there is an area with paid parking and an area with permit parking. I would have been legally parked in the paid parking area at the time of the incident, however the council are claiming I was in a permit area. There is no clear road marking to mark where the paid parking ends and the permit begins other than roadside signs several meters apart, one for permit parking and one for paid parking. As shown in the picture I was about 1m away from the paid parking sign and about 2m away from the permit sign. I have visited the street since and am still genuinely unsure where it actually transitions from one to the other.

The first attached image shows where my car was parked (with the paid parking sign on right and the permit sign on left). The second image is taken from the position of the paid parking sign and shows there are no road markings to show where the permit parking begins.

I made an informal representation which was rejected on the following grounds:

"According to the Civil Enforcement Officer’s (CEO`s) notes the vehicle was issued with the
PCN for being parked without displaying a valid Permit in a Permit Parking Bay.
I have carefully considered your case; however, the circumstances outlined in your
correspondence are not sufficient grounds for cancellation of the PCN in question. It is the
motorist’s responsibility to be aware of the restrictions in force at any given location and time.
Please be advised, along with the white bay markings there is adequate signage displaying
the restrictions in place. If a motorist is unsure of the restrictions in place they should not
assume it is okay to park, safe and legal parking should be sought to avoid incurring any
PCNs.

It is the responsibility of the motorist to ensure that a Permit is properly completed as stated
in the instructions and is displayed properly and securely at the front of the vehicle’s
windscreen or on the inside of the kerbstone window so that all the details can be seen from
outside the vehicle.

A CEO would observe a vehicle in a Permit Parking Bay for a minimum period of five minutes
before issuing a PCN and in this case the Officer had observed the vehicle in question at
13:31 and issued the PCN at 13:41.

If a motorist is unable to park in accordance with the regulations then alternative safe and
legal parking should be sought and used. I am therefore satisfied that this PCN was issued
correctly and you remain liable for the charge."

I now need to decide if I want to wait until a Notice to Owner is issued and make a formal appeal or to just pay the fine. To me it seems unreasonable to expect people to know this was a permit area as there are no road markings or clear signage showing this.




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Thanks so much! Looking at the old Google street image I realise I can just about barely make the lines out on the PCN photo provided. It is extremely faded, but just about visible, I genuinely did not see it and when I returned to look again I still could not see it. Will try to get my own pictures as I think these actually make it out to be better than it actually is. Do you think there is still a case if they are just barely visible like this?

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There is a very strong argument that the signage is insufficient there should really be an upright sign on the boarder showing the different restrictions in each direction

Thank you both. I am going to appeal. I will update for advice once the NTO had come through in the coming weeks.

Just bumping this in case @Incandescent or anyone else has the opportunity to advise thank you!

@Hippocrates I don't have a record of the original challenge unfortunately as it was via web form and you don't get a copy. I should have saved it sorry. I've attached the full NTO and their response to the challenge. I also don't have the original PCN sorry it appears my partner dumped it.

Will add NTO in next post

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Additional photos are also viewable through https://walthamocm.itsvc.co.uk/PCN and by entering the above PCN number and reg

It's not a shared use bay, it's a permit holder's only bay.

How can they use 12s and claim that the basis of the contravention is failing to to comply with one of the restrictions(and the wrong one, should be 16) without showing that the 'other' shared use was not in effect!

Anyway OP, IMO your reps must acknowledge what is the case i.e. you were parked in a 'Permit Holders WSS only bay'. No point fudging it. However, you parked just beyond a traffic sign which permitted parking subject to paying. This is the sign which you saw and acted upon and the authority acknowledge that you made a payment of £X at *****.

The authority's case is that you should have known that, despite its proximity to your car, this sign did not apply to your bay. They have disregarded the council's own failings in not maintaining the crucial parking place dividing lines - which only became apparent to you after the event on receipt of the authority's response and looking at these markings under a microscope- and formatting the sign so as to reinforce the separation of restrictions at this point, as recommended by the Traffic Signs Manual.