Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Private parking tickets => Topic started by: flyingenzo69 on January 06, 2026, 03:12:43 pm
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Well done, good to see the retail park intervening.
If you do write to UK-CPM, do so as a complaint, as this forces them to reply.
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Nice job.
Make sure you keep that email safe just in case CPM don't get the message.
I'd now write to CPM and ask why they decided to get your Keeper details from the DVLA in the first place since they have agreed to abide by the Code of Conduct - in doing so they breached the DVLA agreement.
Also ask why the appeal process failed to identify their error in terms of the CoC specified grace period.
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Thanks all for giving me your time and for replying, the plan worked, i received an email from the landowner this morning where they cancelled the charge and apologised!
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Given the time of year, (a Friday just before Christmas) the site was very busy which almost certainly means that it would be impossible to enter the site / find a space / park and then reverse vehicle from space / leave site inside 4 minutes.
Indeed - it is exactly this sort of situation that grace periods were created for.
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Other notes;
Reading Link Retail Park is quite a large site.
The CPM NtK clearly contains ANPR photographic evidence which relates ONLY to the entry and exit of the vehicle in question and NOT to the actual period of parking.
As such the wording of the PCN is completely contradictory in nature - The notice states 'that by parking on site you are bound by the terms and conditions' etc but clearly your time on site is not 100% time spent parking - so the notice itself is clearly dysfunctional as it is unclear what you are actually being accused of - the NtK continually references 'parking' rather than 'time on site' - the two are not one in the same.
Given the time of year, (a Friday just before Christmas) the site was very busy which almost certainly means that it would be impossible to enter the site / find a space / park and then reverse vehicle from space / leave site inside 4 minutes.
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My Question: what do i do now
My recommendation would be to draft an appeal to the IAS on the basis of the failure to apply the mandatory grace period set out in the Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice. Reference the code explicitly, refer to UK CPM's own rejection of your appeal, and spell it out clearly to the assessor. Show us a draft here before submitting anything.
The IAS is widely regarded as a kangaroo court with a remarkably low success rate, but this is such a clear breach of the Code of Practice that even they might be forced to rule in your favour. If they don't, it's cost you nothing to try, and they'd seem to have a very weak case if it went to court.
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My Case:
Operator: UK-CPM (IPC Member)
Location: Reading Link Retail Park
The Issue: Max stay 4 hours. I stayed 4 hours 04 minutes.
Admitted Facts: In their rejection letter, UK-CPM explicitly admitted: "As your vehicle was on site for 4 hours and 4 minutes, this was an overstay of 4 minutes."
Defense: I am arguing this is within the mandatory 10-minute Grace Period (IPC Single Code of Practice, Clause 5.2 / Annex B).
What I have done so far:
Appealed to UK-CPM as Driver (mistake, but done before i found this website). REJECTED.
They have offered the IAS appeal.
Plan A executed: I have sent a formal complaint to the Landowner (Sorbon Estates / Marcus Smith) today, citing the grace period.
My Question: what do i do now
Images:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/Zyb5T4z
(https://i.postimg.cc/14TYp117/Screenshot-2026-01-06-at-14-27-58.png) (https://postimg.cc/14TYp117)
(https://i.postimg.cc/G4n75P2v/Screenshot-2026-01-06-at-14-44-06.png) (https://postimg.cc/G4n75P2v)
(https://i.postimg.cc/pmMG6QTQ/Screenshot-2026-01-06-at-14-44-12.png) (https://postimg.cc/pmMG6QTQ)