Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) => Topic started by: bluebincar on May 13, 2025, 06:47:45 pm
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(https://i.imgur.com/dMtmrju.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/SdKNMMm.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/afuKLfH.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ndvIS0J.jpeg)
Thanks for your response. Please see images above.
I will stop calling it an appeal - you are of course absolutely right. Apologies.
Thanks for sharing the spreadsheet and legislation. That is very clear.
Next step is representations then which I'll need to construct. Perhaps something in the spreadsheet you shared. Having a proper look now.
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Post up the rejection, and have a look at this table (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pVrE76_RYY6bNmEpYGbsZkxtpfIeud_BT3SKfg7TzQM/edit?gid=74232716#gid=74232716&range=A1:B1). The legislation you're looking for is paragraph 2(7) of Schedule 6 to the Road Traffic Act 1991 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/40/schedule/6/paragraph/2) as applied & modified by The Road Traffic (Permitted Parking Area and Special Parking Area) (City of Edinburgh) Designation Order 1998 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1539/contents/).
Also it's not an appeal, it's just a representation, please stop calling it an appeal. You only make an appeal at the tribunal stage.
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Good afternoon,
As anticipated my appeal was rejected. I have checked my video and there are still zero views so they never opened my link. The video was a clip of me showing the street (and lack of parking) on a different night. I am tempted to continue my appeals. If they had viewed it, I would have paid.
Can I check what I should do next for my formal representation? Any dos and don't I need to consider? For example. Do I share the link again in the formal representation?
I also wonder where it specifically says that the council must consider evidence before rejecting an appeal? I can't find this anywhere that would cover Edinburgh council.
Many thanks
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To be honest we normally operate under the assumption that the council will refuse everything you say, and you'll only get a fair hearing at the tribunal anyway, at which point the full sum is in play.
Frankly the discount is just a distraction, the only way to guarantee that you can settle at the discounted rate is not to challenge the PCN at all and just pay it as soon as you get it. Challenging a PCN and then paying when the challenge is rejected by the council is the worst option, as you've spent time fighting the penalty and you have absolutely nothing to show for it.
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Hmm I am not sure now...the ticket says that "progression of the charge will be placed on hold pending a reply" when a challenge is made.
This doesn't really make it clear if the 50% reduction will be put on hold. This is all so murky and underhand, why not just make it clear!
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Scrap that, used AI to clarify
Every bit of advice I've ever seen from an AI has been wrong.
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Thank you very much. I have had a busy week at work so have only got around to submitting this tonight. I have taken your advice to the letter and will keep you posted.
My main worry now is that I lose and my fine is £100 as it will be over the 14 day reduced period. Makes me contemplate paying (even after all this). The wording on the back of the ticket sort of suggests the 14 day period gets put on hold pending the challenge but not very clearly (to me).
Scrap that, used AI to clarify - it does get paused and if the appeal fails I'll still have a few days to pay. By which point I will know if they watched the video or not.
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That's quite good really.
The one additional tactic is to have a different, shorter video that is small enough to be uploaded to the council website. The council website won't normally accept video files, but you can circumvent this by changing the file extension from .mp4 to .pdf or .jpg and then explaining that you've done this and informing the council that they need to change the file back to .mp4 in order to play the video.
Most councils will ignore this and cricually, most councils will not provide the video (with either the original extension they received it as, or the renamed .mp4 extension) to the tribunal. As the council is under a legal duty to provide a copy of the representations to the tribunal, failure to do so is another ground on which an appeal can be allowed. Some councils will complain that the file was corrupt and couldn't be opened, but that is easily dealt with because they should provide a copy of everything they received with the representations, whether it's corrupt or not.
Obviously any such video to be uploaded to the council website must be different to the one you've given them the link for, as you want to give them two chances to mess up rather than one.
If you do this, it's worth ensuring the video uploaded to youtube is large enough that it couldn't be uploaded to the council website due to the file size limit, you can then add a paragraph to the representation explaining that you couldn't upload it due to it being over the maximum size.
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Hi all. Please see my best attempt below. Happy to get feedback. I have video evidence of the permit slots all being used up on the 16/5/25 at a similar time of night. It includes a link to a youtube video where only those given the link can view it. I won't share it here so that the counter is accurate. Hoping the lack of focus on the link causes them to fail to view it.
(https://i.imgur.com/uGEmLXS.jpeg)
Dear whom it may concern,
I am writing to challenge my PCN received on 13/5/25 (PCN ED43895264). I have to admit the word 'challenge' is somewhat misleading in this case. The evidence is clear, I am quite obviously parked in front of the bin hub when I shouldn't be. I know this and will not waste our time disputing this point. What I'd like to do though is appeal to your kinder side and try and elicit some sympathy. In the hope that as a one off, you can cancel the charge. I am an N3 permit holder and I think I have paid for an annual permit 5 years in a row - which is around £500 in addition to my council tax that I have paid to the council, to park near my home. I work in the NHS and need my car to deliver patient care. If you look at my record you will see I have never had a PCN before. I am a person who 99.9% of the time sticks to the rules as I have a respect for the work the council and other authorities do. Indeed, I think parking enforcement is important, to avoid everything becoming a mess. I appreciate the work you and your colleagues do. Again, I am not 'challenging' the PCN, but hoping for some leniency in very specific circumstances.
On the 12/5/2025 (the night before the PCN) I arrived home late from an on-call shift at the hospital - around 10:30pm-11pm. There were no permit spots available for me to park in on comely bank grove. This is fairly normal since the increase in bin hubs. I then drove around adjacent streets and still I could not find a free spot. I then drove around more streets (see search area) but could still not find a spot where I could park. This isn't normal. Usually I can find one after a reasonable search and a small walk. Please see a video upload (video link) I captured on the 16/5 that gives you an idea of how tight the parking situation can be as mitigating evidence. I grew frustrated. I had worked from 9am-5pm then worked on-call until 11pm. I was tired and anxious about getting home to grab some food and sleep before my next shift at 9am the following day. I considered my options. Ruled out double yellow lines as I didn't want to block fellow drivers vision around corners. I considered the disabled bay but again, I didn't want to inconvenience a cohort of people that often face inconvenience on a daily basis. I then considered in front of the bin hub. I knew that bins don't get emptied before I leave at 08:30 on a Tuesday having lived here for 5 years. The street on comely bank grove is incredibly wide which makes it the safest place I could pick. I was sure I could be gone for work before parking enforcement even started their shifts. I was wrong. at 08:17-08:19 I received my PCN. 11 minutes before I left for the hospital. I was up in my flat getting my lunch bag organised to avoid paying for expensive take out food. Ultimately, I paid a much higher price. £100 reduced to £50 if I pay within 14 days. I was devastated and demoralised having thought I'd make a reasonable choice the night before. It was difficult to come to terms with the fact I'd spend most of my working day earning that £50 back.
Can I please ask that on this occasion my PCN be cancelled? I will never park in front of a bin hub again. I will widen my search area and wait as long as it takes/walk as far as I need to find a free spot. In the grand scheme of things, this PCN isn't keeping Edinburgh tidy and it isn't punishing a repeat offender or someone with disregard for the rules. In this case the PCN is hitting someone who made an honest mistake after a particularly tough spell at work. It will not happen again and I hope you can exercise your discretion in this case.
Kind regards,
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Thank you very much. This is what I thought would be the outcome but it is always best to check with the forum. I will try and plead my case! I guess I can have a bit of fun with it.
Put a draft on here before you submit it, also have a look at the strategy of last resort (https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/ealing-cumberland-road-w7-code-53j-failing-to-comply-with-a-restriction-on-vehic/msg56444/#msg56444) (I have since come up with a few variations of it).
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Looking at the photos, I'm sorry to say it, but you look "bang-to-rights". Councils issue permits in the full knowledge that there just isn't a space for every permit they issue, and in places like Edinburgh, it is very unlikely there ever will be. If you reside in the centre of a big city this is one of the issues you will come up with if you own a car. It is "musical chairs" basically.
Having said you look 'bang-to-rights' it is always worth submitting something to try to get them to cancel the PCN. Mostly they don't but it does mean they have to do at least some work for the money. All I can suggest is to submit a non-confrontational representation explaining the circumstances, and ask them to cancel the PCN on this ocasion.
Thank you very much. This is what I thought would be the outcome but it is always best to check with the forum. I will try and plead my case! I guess I can have a bit of fun with it.
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Looking at the photos, I'm sorry to say it, but you look "bang-to-rights". Councils issue permits in the full knowledge that there just isn't a space for every permit they issue, and in places like Edinburgh, it is very unlikely there ever will be. If you reside in the centre of a big city this is one of the issues you will come up with if you own a car. It is "musical chairs" basically.
Having said you look 'bang-to-rights' it is always worth submitting something to try to get them to cancel the PCN. Mostly they don't but it does mean they have to do at least some work for the money. All I can suggest is to submit a non-confrontational representation explaining the circumstances, and ask them to cancel the PCN on this ocasion.
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Hi all, images of the offence shown below. Don't think there is anything I can do but pay within 14 days. Unless I am missing something?
(https://i.imgur.com/3qdHS6S.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/phLAkmU.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/dNCVvDQ.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/7MYt8N5.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/cP3W5Ph.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bkvuHwp.jpeg)
thanks
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It sounds like you have been "double parked" and it has been banned in 2019 under Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 along with parking on pavement and dropped kerbs.
To confirm we would see the Council photos first.
You have two chances to make representations against the Council (28 days x 2)
We will look again tomorrow to see if the photos have appeared on the website.
Thank you I had a look at the legislation and this seems to be the case. The loss of parking spaces is ridiculous with the installation of bin hubs everywhere. Oftentimes permit holders can't actually find a spot to park. This is of course immaterial to the PCN. I'll check in tomorrow.
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It sounds like you have been "double parked" and it has been banned in 2019 under Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 along with parking on pavement and dropped kerbs.
To confirm we would see the Council photos first.
You have two chances to make representations against the Council (28 days x 2)
We will look again tomorrow to see if the photos have appeared on the website.
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I don't have any, the PCN doesn't indicate where I can see this. I tried the council website
Some councils take 24 hrs to update website - try again tomorrow.
Ok thank you. Will report back with photo. This delay eats into my appeal window, 24 hours is reasonable. A week wouldn't be. I'll check tomorrow.
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I don't have any, the PCN doesn't indicate where I can see this. I tried the council website
Some councils take 24 hrs to update website - try again tomorrow.
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You need to post the council's photos pl.
I don't have any, the PCN doesn't indicate where I can see this. I tried the council website and get this:
(https://i.imgur.com/ZjU17i1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hh1U8z4.jpeg)
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You need to post the council's photos pl.
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@cp8759 (I did read the sticky! This is a great forum, many thanks for all your work)
Hi all,
Firstly, you do a great job. Many thanks in advance.
Every Monday night I arrive home late (10:30pm) and there is often no spaces to park on the street I live on (comely bank grove, EH41AZ) or streets nearby. I can drive around for ages and not find anywhere. I am a permit holder (N3). On the 12/5/25 I was forced to park in front of the bin hub as I had no other options (except double yellow lines). I leave for work at 08:30 on 13th May and unfortunately got a ticket at 08:17. The road is a quiet residential street and very wide so it was the most reasonable place I could pick. There are no bin collections before I leave at 08:30 on a Tuesday morning - basically I am not an idiot - I try and play fairly in life. The PCN was left on my windshield.
Obviously I know not to park there, but before I pay the fine, is there any technicalities that I can hold them to account for in appeal? I will roll over if I have to but thought I'd check here first.
(https://i.imgur.com/7wCi0yt.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/wb94QEI.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/HVR5D0b.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/lwNqLP5.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/k135x26.jpeg)
Streetview: https://maps.app.goo.gl/WyGr1PQ41jnpk7xx8 (note image is old, bin hub expanded since as per my pic)