Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) => Topic started by: mbagheri on December 31, 2025, 09:37:26 am
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No, it is not an easy win. The bay has a sign but the OP didn't understand the regulations on bay restriction signing, and looked at the sign on the opposite side of the street instead of looking along the bay for the applicable sign. Signs only apply to the side of the street they are on. Westminster will reject the representations, and probably re-offer the discount, and the OP will either have to take them to London Tribunals with the full PCN penalty in play or pay-up.
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Surely this is an easy win, argue there is no signage proving that the car was parked in a residents only bay. It is upon the council to prove that it was parked exactly in a zone which was residents only correct? And for the Council to map the location and prove it was definitely in a residents only bay is going to be too much work for the council and possibly impossible to prove, so they will pull out just before the tribunal date.
As per this situation where Joe Lycett got out of a similar fine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gkiw7zpULo
Could @hippocrates or @cp8759 assess please?
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You were in a 24/7 resident bay but oddly the CEO didn't include a pic of one of the three signs in the bay - two are really not far from where you parked. You can just see one of them behind your car.
I can't see anything to go on except an ask for discretion - any mitigation?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GRUQjKbwu2VGAUnN6
(https://i.ibb.co/tP1ZVGPx/w1.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/0jjkhbpD/w2.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/B5vXnCfh/w3.jpg)
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Basically your lack of knowledge on the signing of parking bays and their restrictions has caused you to get a PCN, so it's difficult to think of any credible appeal based on the contravention itself.
However, I'm struggling with GSV, because you say you parked in a bay which was residents only all days, but saw a sign opposite that gave Mon-Sat restrictions only. Yet when I look at the location, I see the sign in this bay which is all days 8.30am to 8.30. WIth no days specified it means all days: -
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iEAJfxmPxEvd16Uh6
Then, going across to the bay on the other side of the street there's a ruddy great van blocking the view of the sign ! So looking a the previous GSV view (Nov 2022), the sign says residents only Mon-Sun, (i.e all days), 8.30am to 8.30 pm, se essentially the same restrictions both sides. This begs the question of what does this sign say now in 2025 ? Has it been changed to Mon-Sat like you said ?
Anyway, at the moment I see no credible appeal option, (at London Tribunals). The council will refuse all your reps informal and formal stating that the PCN was correctly served. On the other hand there may be a possible 'technical' appeal based on Westminster mismanagement of the enforcement process, so before you pay the discount, wait a bit to see what turns up. Some councils have made major ****-ups with their webpages and appeals have been won on this.
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thanks, all done - I updated the original post
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As usual, for meaningful advice please have a read of
https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/read-this-first-before-posting-your-case!-this-section-is-for-council-tfl-dartme/
and post up here
(use
ibb.co (https://imgbb.com/) or https://imgpile.com/
for posting images.
Wherever possible, use the BBCode.)
both sides of the unredacted PCN ( - leave everything in),
a GSV link to the location,
and any council photos/video.
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Reading the "READ THIS FIRST" sticky in the appropriate subforum, and then posting appropriately in that subforum would have been a good start.
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I have reported to the moderators because this should be in the Civil penalty section; I’m sure one of them will move it there.
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Hi,
A few days ago, I parked my car on a street in the Westminster area on a Sunday. While parking, I checked the sign on the opposite side of the street, which stated that parking restrictions applied only from Monday to Friday. When I returned, I found that my car had been issued a fine. I noticed that the parking restrictions on the side of the street where I had parked were different and required a residents’ permit. I made this mistake for two reasons: first, the most visible sign from where I parked was the one on the opposite side of the street, and I was not aware that parking restrictions could differ between the two sides of the same road; second, the residents’ permit sign for my side of the street was positioned further down the road and was not visible from where I had parked.
Is there any way to challenge this penalty? :'(
Notice images:
(https://cdn.imgpile.com/f/oawHmmw_xl.jpg)
(https://cdn.imgpile.com/f/3K2Lzyd_xl.jpg)
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kYMPnr4GSwiLjbHa6
Many thanks.