Free Traffic Legal Advice

Yes, that would be really helpful, thank you.

Apologies for the delay, I have just returned from holiday.

I received the Notice to Owner letter on the 3rd of August and have written the following draft response (which includes the images I shared above).

Please note that I am challenging the “Notice to Owner” dated 03/08/23 on the following basis :

On 29/06/2023, I visited Northolt Park Leisure Centre to go to the Gym.  I have been using the gym for the past 15 years but I stopped during Covid but have recently returned.  I have never not paid for a ticket which used to be 20p per hour but is now 30p per hour and so I pay 60p to cover 2 hours.  Today both the ticket machines were broken, they both displayed "Not in Use" on their screens.  I took a photo of both ticket machines at 11:42am and when I entered the Northolt Leisure Centre I went up to the counter and asked the young man if he was aware that the ticket machines were both not working. He said "Yes, we have told the council".  I asked if my car would be ok as I didn't want to get a fine and he said, "yes it should be ok". I have experienced this a few times over the past 15 years where the machines have not worked and on all occasions all patrons who were unable to pay for their parking because the ticket machine was not working never received a parking ticket.

I was therefore shocked and dismayed when I saw that I had been issued with a PCN EA58415531 Civil Enforcement officer 2327 there was no name near the signature.

I quickly checked to see if the two ticket machines were now working but they were not, they both still said "Not in Use" at 13.22 and therefore the PCN was issued at 12:10 when the Ticket machines were NOT working.

This is grossly unfair. I have never tried to park illegally at the gym and I have never previously received a parking ticket at that location in 15 years. It does not make sense for me to not pay 60p for the 2 hour session that I needed so there was no deliberate intent on my side to not pay. I had the change I needed but I just could not pay as the ticket machines were not working and when I checked at the Leisure Centre they said "it should be fine" which is what has happened in the past.


I appealed this with Ealing Council Parking Services and you chose to not take my mitigating factors into account on 30/06/2023 and you responded as follows :
You were issued a PCN for not having a Pay & Display ticket that was both valid and clearly
displayed. Even if you have a Pay & Display ticket, you have to display it so that a Civil
Enforcement Officer (CEO) can see all its details. You were also able to pay to park by phone
or online; however, the CEO's handheld computer showed no valid period bought by phone
or online.
You are not allowed to park without paying. If a ticket machine is faulty, you must use another
machine or pay by phone. A sign on the Pay & Display machine explains this. If you are not
able to pay you must park in an alternative location.

You issued the PCN with the following wording : “Contravention 83 : Parked in a car park without clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket or voucher or parking clock" the PCN does NOT mention having a valid cashless electronic parking ticket/Event. As you are aware an electronic parking ticket paid by phone cannot be displayed and the PCN explicitly states "clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket or voucher or parking clock". Something that is “displayed” is something that the warden can see in the car.

You are fully aware that I was unable to purchase a parking ticket to clearly display because the ticket machines were broken and "Not in use", as such the PCN you issued to me is therefore INVALID. If the PCN is to include paying for an electronic ticket by phone than the PCN issued should have explicitly stated this and as you know the PCN did not state it. Your civil enforcement officer 2327 has therefore issued the wrong PCN.

Taking into consideration the above , I kindly ask you to cancel the alleged PCN.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

I actually already made an informal appeal last week, which was rejected. I've copied the transcripts below:

My appeal

Today on 29th June 2023, I visited Northolt Park Leisure Centre to go to the Gym. I have been using the gym for the past 15 years but I stopped during Covid but have recently returned. I have never not paid for a ticket which used to be 20p per hour but is now 30p per hour and so I pay 60p to cover 2 hours. Today both the ticket machines were broken, they both displayed "Not in Use" on their screens. I took a photo of both ticket machines at 11:42am and when I entered the Northolt Leisure Centre I went up to the counter and asked the young man if he was aware that the ticket machines were both not working. He said "Yes, we have told the council". I asked if my car would be ok as I didn't want to get a fine and he said, "yes it should be ok". I have experienced this a few times over the past 15 years where the machines have not worked and on all occasions all patrons who were unable to pay for their parking because the ticket machine was not working never received a parking ticket. I was therefore shocked and dismayed when I saw that I had been issued with a PCN EA58415531. I quickly checked to see if the two ticket machines were now working but they were not, they both still said "Not in Use" at 13:22am and therefore the PCN was issued at 12:10 when the Ticket machines were not working. This is grossly unfair. I have never tried to park illegally at the gym and I never would. It does not make sense for me to not pay 60p for the 2 hour session that I needed so there was no deliberate intent on my side to not pay. I had the change I needed but I just could not pay as the ticket machines were not working and when I checked at the Leisure Centre they said "it should be fine" which is what has happened in the past. I sincerely hope that you will see that I am genuine and there was no reason for me to not pay for my 60p ticket and that the Ticket machines were both "Not in Use", when I arrived at the gym and when I left (I attach Photographic evidence). I therefore kindly ask that my appeal is upheld and the PCN issued to me is cancelled. Thank You.

Council response:

NOTICE OF DECLINE OF CHALLENGE
Thank you for writing to us regarding the above Penalty Charge Notice.
We have carefully considered your challenge, however have decided not to cancel your
Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
You were issued a PCN for not having a Pay & Display ticket that was both valid and clearly
displayed. Even if you have a Pay & Display ticket, you have to display it so that a Civil
Enforcement Officer (CEO) can see all its details. You were also able to pay to park by phone
or online; however, the CEO's handheld computer showed no valid period bought by phone
or online.
You are not allowed to park without paying. If a ticket machine is faulty, you must use another
machine or pay by phone. A sign on the Pay & Display machine explains this. If you are not
able to pay you must park in an alternative location.

You have these choices:
You can pay the discount charge of £40.00 if your payment reaches us within 14 days of the
date of this letter. If we do not receive payment before the end of the period of 14 days
beginning with the date that this letter is served on you then the full amount of £80.00 will
become due.
If the PCN remains unpaid after the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date on
which this Notice of Decline is served on you, we will send a Notice to Owner (NTO) to the
registered keeper of the vehicle. A person whom a Notice to Owner is served will be entitled
to make formal representations to us against the penalty charge and may appeal to an
adjudicator if these representations are rejected. The formal representation must be made in
the form and manner and within the time specified in the Notice to Owner.
It is not possible to appeal to an adjudicator without first making formal representations to us.
Please do not make a further challenge as we reserve the right to disregard any further
correspondence related to the notice before the NTO is served.

Hi,

I recently parked at my gym (Northolt Leisure Centre) in their car park which is controlled by Ealing council. I have been using this centre and car park for over 10 years and have always paid for parking using the pay and display machine. On this occasion, when I arrived, both pay and display machines were out of order. I spoke to the staff at the reception desk inside the centre who told me "it should probably be fine" to just leave my car in the car park. When I got back to the car, I had been given a parking ticket. I went back in to the centre and a different member of staff asked me if I had paid for parking by phone. I went back to the pay and display machine and saw that it was possible to pay for parking using the PayByPhone app.

At the time that I parked, I genuinely had no idea that it was possible to pay by phone and the first staff member in the leisure centre that I talked to did not inform me of this. I contested the parking ticket based on this but my appeal was rejected.

Upon further review of the parking ticket, I noticed that the following wording was used:
"Contravention: 83. Parked in a car park without clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket or voucher or parking clock". I also read documents on Ealing council's websites which share the same definition for contravention 83.

There is no mention in that wording of "having a valid cashless parking event" which some other councils use. In this instance, it was impossible for me to get a valid pay and display ticket as the machine was out of order. Is this a valid defense against this ticket and/or do I have any other ground to appeal? Or will I just have to pay the fine?

I have attached images of the parking ticket (VRM: YX60YUN) to this post as well as pictures of the signs at the car park.

Many thanks in advance!

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