Free Traffic Legal Advice

POPLA assement-

Decision: Successful

Assessor Name:  Natalie Matthews

Assessor summary of operator case

The operator has issued the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) for not displaying a valid pay and display ticket.

Assessor summary of your case

I can see the appellant raised multiple grounds of appeals. However, for this decision, I will focus my decision on this point: • They weren’t the driver and as this is a Notice to Driver, they will not provide the driver’s details.
Assessor supporting rational for decision

I have allowed the PCN for the following reason: After reviewing the evidence provided by the appellant and operator, I am not satisfied that the driver has been identified. The PCN that was issued was a Notice to Driver attached to the vehicle on the day in question. The operator have not issued an NTK. Within the appeal to the operator and POPLA, I can see that the appellant has not stated that they were driving on the date in question. Based on this, I am not satisfied the operator have identified the driver on the date in question. I am not satisfied that based upon the appeal to POPLA the appellant was the driver. Upon reviewing the rejection letter, it appears the operator is chasing the appellant. As the operator has not issued a Notice to Keeper, then only the driver can be held liable. As such, I must allow the appeal on the basis that the operator has failed to demonstrate that the appellant is the driver and therefore liable for the charge. I note the appellant has submitted different grounds of appeal, however as I have allowed the appeal, then I have not considered these. Accordingly, I must allow this appeal.

I'd already sent the original comments before your last reply, I don't think there is any way now to add the additional comments as I've had an email from POPLA saying my appeal is now in a queue waiting to be allocated for assessment?

I have now received the Operator information and evidence from Spring Parking, hopefully attached if I've done it correctly.

In the pack it states that the registered keepers details were obtained from the DVLA under a reasonable cause request, under this it shows the name and address of the registered keeper and also that a reminder notice to keeper was issued by post. But they have not provided a copy of the notice to keeper, proof of postage or anything. I have not received any thing through the post from Spring Parking and have definately not received a Notice to Keeper in any shape or form.

Having read some threads I was think of replying with something like this:-

The operator claims they issued a “reminder Notice to Keeper” after obtaining DVLA data, but they have not supplied a copy of this document in their evidence pack. There is also no record of any original Notice to Keeper (NtK) being issued before that. Under PoFA, a parking operator can only hold the registered keeper liable for a parking charge if they serve a valid NtK within strict statutory timeframes and containing all the required information.

In this case, the operator first issued a Notice to Driver (NtD), and the registered keeper then submitted an appeal using the operator’s internal process. The operator rejected that appeal and confirmed that the internal process had ended. However, they did not issue a formal NtK before or after that stage, only stating in their evidence pack that a “reminder” was sent. A reminder is not a substitute for a PoFA-compliant NtK, nor was a reminder received by the keeper.

PoFA Paragraph 6(1)(a) states that if an NtD has been given, then the NtK must be served not less than 28 days and not more than 56 days after the alleged parking event. It must also include specific mandatory information as set out in Paragraph 8 of PoFA. Without a valid NtK that meets all these conditions, the operator has no legal basis to hold the keeper liable.

As no NtK has been produced and no evidence has been submitted to show that one was ever issued in the correct form or timeframe, the operator cannot rely on PoFA. Therefore, liability cannot transfer from the unidentified driver to the registered keeper, and the appeal must be allowed.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Sk5z5ZEi5Xo-coeTn30xWd0KE0u59x4H?usp=drive_link

I have 7 days to respond and would appreciate your help

I have received a response from Spring Parking rejecting my appeal and providing a POPLA code giving me 28 days to appeal to POPLA.
They also state that I have reached the end of their internal appeals procedure and therefore have two options - pay or appeal. However they do not know the name of the driver and have not sent me a Notice to Keeper.

Please could you let me know what the next steps I should take are, I'm guessing trying to put together my POPLA appeal. Thank you for your help so far.



Date of this notice 12th November 2025


Thank you for submitting your PCN appeal via email.

PCN Reference-

Vehicle Registration-

POPLA verification Code-

Date and Time of Parking Event -13th October 2025 at 14:13

Location- Bradgate Park, Swithland Woods, Leicester, LE6 0HJ


Thank you for your representation you made on receiving a Parking Charge Notice with the above reference number.

We have considered everything on your email including any evidence enclosed but do not feel that you have made grounds for cancelling the Parking Charge Notice and as such payment remains due.

Your vehicle was parked NOT CLEARLY DISPLAYING A VALID PAY AND DISPLAY TICKET. More evidence can be viewed online by visiting http://www.sp.eparking.co.uk.

We are fully compliant with British Parking Association regulations on signage and confirm that there is adequate signage at this site that is visible, appropriately located, clear and legible, so the Parking Charge Notice is fully enforceable.

There are adequate warning signs mounted prominently in the car park. It is the motorist’s responsibility to ensure all signage is checked and understood before a vehicle is parked.

You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure and therefore you now have two options can pay or appeal -YOU MUST NOT DO BOTH.

If you have already made payment for your parking charge notice, please ignore the below:

You now have several options.

1.   Pay the Parking Charge Notice online at www.sp.eparking.co.uk or by calling our 24-hour payment line on 0330 008 0454 or payment can be made by posting a cheque made payable to Spring Parking Ltd. and sent to the address below. Please quote your ‘Parking Charge Notice’ Number and your vehicle registration number on the reverse, if paid within 14 days of issue it will be at the reduced amount of £55.

2.   Make an appeal to POPLA within 28 days by going online and completing the form at www.popla.co.uk. Please note, should you decide to appeal to POPLA, and your appeal is subsequently rejected, the option to pay a discounted amount will no longer be available and the full amount of the PCN will become due of £95. Your POPLA reference number is
7963165441

3.   By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org /) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above. PLEASE DO NOT MAKE A PAYMENT IF YOU WILL BE APPEALING THROUGH POPLA AS NO REFUNDS ARE GIVEN.

4.   If you do not make payment or submit an appeal to POPLA within the relevant time frame, the outstanding PCN may be passed to our appointed Debt Collection Agency for further action. All costs associated with this process will be added to the amount outstanding.

5.   POPLA will NOT consider any cases where payment has been made.

The driver parked in Hallgates (Cropston) car park at Bradgate Park and used the PayByPhone app to pay the parking fee. When the driver returned to the car a parking charge notice, from Spring Parking, had been attached to the windscreen. On checking the app it was found that, while the driver had received and entered a verification code and viewed the confimation, no payment was taken from the bank account. PayByPhone have stated that while they have a record of the transaction up to the confirmation being viewed, they have no sign of the pay button being pressed so the transaction wasn't completed. Copies of the PayByPhone logs have been obtained and do show this. I don't know if phone signal was lost or if the button was or wasn't pressed.

Because the driver used the app they never looked at the signs. If required it is possible to visit and get photos of the signs in the next few days.

I am the registered keeper of the car, I am not sure if it matters with the PCN having been attached to the car but the location postcode on the PCN is a 3.3 mile drive from Hallgates car park.

Please could you give advice on how to handle this as the registered keeper, what if there are any, grounds to appeal on and, if there are any, when to appeal as registered keeper. Thank you.

Attached are photos of the PCN and a link to Google Street view of the location.

https://ibb.co/x8Yv8JRt
https://ibb.co/LdKyCpRm
https://ibb.co/Qvsy7QG9
https://ibb.co/jPxxs448

https://maps.app.goo.gl/DEGkELZZtg1krZcD6