Free Traffic Legal Advice

Live cases legal advice => Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) => Topic started by: abzmalik1 on July 03, 2025, 06:15:30 pm

Title: Re: City of Westminster - Penalty Charge Notice - Parked in Residents Permit Zone
Post by: Incandescent on July 03, 2025, 11:37:08 pm

The signing here is poor.
At the bays breakpoint (the triple-dashed lines), is a sign that actually applies to the bays on the left, but there is nothing on it to tell you this, like an arrow. Correct practice in a situation like this, is to mount two signs side-by-side, with the applicable restrictions on each one, with an arrow to indicate applicability. I would be tempted to take them all the way on this, but it's your decision, as it is not a "slam-dunk" win, but I think the odds are in your favour. Wait a bit to see what the others say.

Title: City of Westminster - Penalty Charge Notice - Parked in Residents Permit Zone
Post by: abzmalik1 on July 03, 2025, 06:15:30 pm

Hello all,

I parked my car in a bay in Connaught Square [F4] on 21/06/2025 at 1:15am. I returned to my car at around 3am. As it was quite dark, I only noticed a PCN affixed to windscreen upon reaching home. The PCN was issued at 02:47am for parking in a residents parking zone. When I parked my car in the bay, there was no parking instructions sign displayed (see attached picture - Pic 7).


The nearest sign with parking instructions was 1 bay behind me. I read the sign and it was all clear to park (at least that's what I thought) - see attached picture - Pic 8)


As it was late in night and it was quite dark, I did not notice the the 3 small horizontal lines (only came to know now that they denote residents parking bays). The pictures that the parking officer took of the parking sign was quite further down, it was definitely not near to where I was parked (see attached pictures - Pic 1, Pic 3, Pic 4 & Pic 6) below). The parking suspension notice was effective from 27/06/2025.

Also, the link for Google Maps is here to give you an idea of the location. The sign for residents permit shown in Google Maps is no longer there as it can be seen in the picture in the first link provided above.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Connaught+Square+NHS+General+Practice/@51.5148026,-0.1638078,3a,75y,206.66h,76.47t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smtng4lxTnjZb5qnCcGX4sQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D13.527836418938321%26panoid%3Dmtng4lxTnjZb5qnCcGX4sQ%26yaw%3D206.66132569292853!7i13312!8i6656!4m9!3m8!1s0x48760535432680a7:0xbfbcbe2663fc8957!8m2!3d51.5137327!4d-0.1637347!10e5!14m1!1BCgIgARICCAI!16s%2Fg%2F11c6yz6s36?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYzMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D


I appealed the PCN but the council rejected the appeal (as expected). I have attached the letter (see attached - file name Our Response to you - Copy).


I have been given a further 14 days to make reduced payment of £80.00. Are there any suggestions to contest this further by making a formal representation based on the sign missing from the pole right next to where my car was parked and additionally, showing the intent that I took all precautionary measures to avoid any parking rules contravention? I have attached screenshots from Google Maps showing the location of the car being parked, parking signboards, etc - see attached - Screenshot 1)

Any help will be greatly appreciated!.


Thanks

[attachment deleted by admin]