Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) => Topic started by: Moongrazer on April 17, 2026, 09:03:23 am
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Thanks for your quick replies. The incidents all occurred within the space of 3-4 hours on the morning of 1st April. Notices were issued on the 8th and received by us on 13th. We are going to get in touch with Met and Kent Police with the advice you've pointed us at. I agree the reporting path for cloned plates is not straightforward (I've gone through the initial questions and nothing stands out as the obvious choice to pick).
I need to take a better photo of the back of the car to match the PCN from TfL, but my wife is at work today so I will do this tomorrow.
I can already tell from the photo TfL sent, heavily grainy as it is, that the number plate on the rear of the clone car is in an enclosed recess (barely larger than the plate). On my wife's car, there is a lip across the rear of the car, above the plate, but no recess. I think this will be obvious when I get a straight on pic of the car.
We already used the link on TfL's website to challenge the notice a few days ago, which we could submit photos with but nothing else. We received an e-mail from TfL this morning asking us to send any further evidence we have in the next 14 days, as quoted in my first post. For some reason they will only accept this by post, despite having e-mailed us.
The initial representation we sent was "I deny any liability or contractual agreement. In your notice, the photographic evidence provided is of a car that does not match the vehicle I own. In order to resolve the dispute, I attach photos of my actual car. You will note that the colour is a dark charcoal grey, not the silver seen in your PCN, and the shape of the car is not the same. I believe my number plate has been cloned and attached to another vehicle. Reports are being made to the police and the DVLA."
I will redact the addresses from the PCN letters and upload to an image site soon.
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As the Kent cases are private parking we have a section for these where you can get help.
What happens if you log into TFL's PCN site and try and submit more info. I wouldn't worry about this one as they are unlikely to contest it and they are just looking to tick a box.
What did you say/send in your reps?
Post their letter.
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Please give us some dates to give an idea of time-frame.
Whoever replied at Cambridgeshire (101?) was wrong. The police need to log it for ANPR (do't be surprised if you get stopped). You need a crime number.
Trying to report cloning online seems difficult - see
https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/automatic-number-plate-recognition-anpr/
(scroll down)
https://www.kent.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/automatic-number-plate-recognition-anpr/
https://www.cambs.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/automatic-number-plate-recognition-anpr/
So I'd try again with all three forces, quoting the relevant website back at them if they are difficult. Remember for the Met and Kent the alleged offences took place on their 'patch'.
The best evidence is photos - if you can post here photos from each alleged contravention, and place each photo alongside a photo from the same angle of your vehicle, then members here are quite good at playing 'spot the difference'.
You may find it worth checking with TfL to see if there are any other PCNs outstanding against your reg.mark.
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My wife has recently received 4 separate notices, including one from TfL for use of the Blackwall tunnel, all from the same date 1st April (and within 3 hours of each other). The other three are PCNs for alleged incidents at private parking sites in Kent.
From the photos included in each, it is quite obvious the car is not hers because the colour is a light silver grey, whereas hers is a dark charcoal grey. We also live in Cambridgeshire which is quite a distance from where the alleged incidents took place and have not visited London or anywhere close to that area by car for some years. It therefore looks like someone has cloned plates with her VRN.
We spoke to the Cambridgeshire police by phone but they were not interested in recording the crime as they considered it to be identify theft which they claim is not a recordable offence. I am wondering if we should instead report the incidents to the Met and Kent police, as the incidents have occurred in their areas?
We have also spoken to DVLA who have asked us to send a letter + copies of the received notices to their Vehicles team, which we have done.
We have made representations to all issuing companies, refuting that she as keeper is responsible, and that we believe the number plates to have been cloned, providing photos of her car as evidence.
TfL have been the first to reply asking us to consider any further evidence that may support our representation:
"To assist us process your representation we would request you to consider the evidence which may be available to you to support your representation. You should provide us with all the evidence upon which you may rely for us to consider. The evidence you may want to consider providing could include and is not limited to Proof of vehicle at a different location (e.g. tracker report, statement from a colleague or neighbour) OR Proof of involvement of another enforcement agency (e.g police, local authority), who have confirmed vehicle is a ringer/clone OR Proof that customer has had previous dealings with the police in relation to the vehicle, resulting in it being recorded as ringer/clone (police station details AND crime reference number are required to validate such dealings) OR Affidavit/Witness Statement affirming vehicle was not within the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels Charging Zone."
On the morning in question our cars were parked at home for most of the morning, followed by a trip to two local shops. Unfortunately we do not have any photo/receipt evidence to support this. I am happy to provide a witness statement to that effect, as I very clearly know our movements on that morning. Would this be of any use?
TfL are asking us to submit our additional evidence by post. We are loathe to do this as we would rather send things digitally. Since someone from TfL e-mailed us, should we just reply to that address or is there a better one we should use?
Appreciate any advice people can help us out with.