Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Private parking tickets => Topic started by: Fired23 on April 14, 2026, 09:43:48 pm
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Do you have grounds to appeal, no, at least not strong ones. Its the drivers responsibility to be aware of and comply with the contract they have entered into. Unlit signs, didn't know there were restrictions, didn't actually park won't get a PCN cancelled at appeal stage. Claiming forbidding signage therefore no contract won't either but may have some traction in court.
It may say five minutes on the PCN but in reality it will be 5 minutes and some seconds so outside of the consideration period so that won't work. Not being able to see the car in the images isn't unusual at night, the camera picked up the plate going in and out and that's what mattered unless you are disputing being there or your plates were cloned which you are.
You might get it cancelled if you explain you were picking up a gym member who forgot to register you, but it's far from a given.
In reality appeals are unlikely to succeed from what you've given us so far, they will be followed by debt collectors and a letterof claim. There's a good chance it won't proceed to court if it's defended but that means engaging with the legal process later.
Personally I'd be having a long hard conversation with the gym goer, especially if several people's generosity has resulted in PCNs.
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Gym members must enter their reg number on entry into the gym or link it to their membership. The person we were dropping off is without a car currently and several people who have picked him up have received a PCN.
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Thanks for your response
Please see the PCN and sign on the way into the car park, I believe the ones with the terms and conditions that say you can’t stop are actually in the car park itself in the small print at the bottom which you would have to get out of the car to read especially in the dark.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/0K0wvsX
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https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/read-this-first-private-parking-charges-forum-guide/
Please show the PCN, and if possible the signage at the site. What is the arrangement for gym users normally? Prohibitions ae incapable of forming a contract, and you appear to be within a 5 min consideration period, so there are grounds for appeal - whether Parking Eye will see it that way is another matter...!
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Hi, I’ve today received a parking charge for entering a car park to pick up someone from the gym. The driver didn’t park, just waited for him. The letter shows the driver was there for 5 minutes.
I have been back to the site today, there is a sign on the way into the car park (on the opposite side of the road) stating no parking outside of the hours stated. The driver collected him late at night in the dark and didn’t park. The letter states that a parking charge is applicable if the vehicle remains on site for 0 hours and 0 minutes.
The letter has a photo of the car but you can’t even tell the car is white it was so dark and the number plate is only legible when they’ve zoomed in showing the signs would have been impossible to notice/read assuming someone did even get out of the car.
The car park was Gallagher retail park, Caerphilly and the driver was collecting someone from Puregym.
Do I have grounds to appeal?