Free Traffic Legal Advice

The Craven Road/Hill signs are still there as per the 2022 images - the 2024 images  are, I assume, taken out of school term time so the signs are covered. The Craven Terrace sign is also covered on the two most recent Street View images.

I’ve added the full rejection letter to the album below:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cTBWBzt4GqtgbxFh8

That’s it, aside from the standard appeal stuff on the reverse:



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Representations rejected, with a pretty poor response that mentions parking.

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Received a Westminster PCN via CCTV for entering a pedestrian/cycle zone on a route I take now and again - on investigation, this is a part-time “School Street” on Craven Terrace, W2, which came into being a couple of years ago, and only operates in term time in mornings and afternoons. I crossed Craven Road/Craven Hill to access Craven Terrace, coming south from Devonshire Terrace.

It’s pretty obvious that there’s a school on Craven Terrace as there are two of the usual and very obvious yellow “School” warning signs set back on either side of its entry. However, the single sign about the restricted access is effectively obscured as you approach from Devonshire Terrace as it’s right on the corner, in front of the building on the left, and in line-of-sight with the Give Way sign ahead of it at the junction (see attached pictures). Out of term time, this sign is seemingly covered with a grey panel, and you wouldn’t notice it was there.

There are two signs on Craven Road/Craven Hill warning of no right/left turn into Craven Terrace, but there is nothing at all on the approach from Devonshire Terrace. Even anticipating another restriction sign, you would already be positioned and prepared to check for traffic to cross Devonshire Terrace and I do not consider the signage in any way adequate or obvious enough. The contrast with the School Streets signs in, say, Wandsworth - large paired illuminated flashing-light boxes, incorporating the normal school signs - couldn’t be more marked.

I’ve attached a copy of the PCN and location pictures at the link below (uploads not working for me):

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cTBWBzt4GqtgbxFh8

Any input?

PCN is listed as closed - supposedly they replied five weeks ago, but I have received neither email nor letter.

 Fantastic, that’s very useful.

Recently briefly parked on Queensway, W2 for about twenty minutes at about 20:50 on a weekday evening - parking here is in purpose-built bays off the carriageway which have normal white-lined markings between spaces - there are no road lines or other markings on or next to the carriageway.

I always check the time board for restrictions in town, and, looking out of the car window, the sign here says Pay by Phone hours are 8.30am-6.30pm, Mon-Sat, as you might expect. Happy with that, I parked (between two other cars) and left the car.

When I came back to the car, I had the ticket - “Code 02, Parked or loading/unloading in a restricted street where waiting and loading/unloading restrictions are in force”. On closer inspection, out of the car, the parking sign is about three feet high and, at the very top is a restriction on parking after the end of the pay by phone restricted times (ie you cannot park at all apart from the hours in the day when you must pay).

This seems a ridiculously counter-intuitive and confusing regime compared with every other usual parking restriction in London, particularly when the spaces in question aren’t even on the carriageway and there are absolutely no yellow lines or other restriction markings on the bays or carriageways.

I can only assume Westminster know it makes them a lot of money and have tested the signage/markings, but… any advice?

Can’t embed images, so they are hopefully visible with the link below:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cTBWBzt4GqtgbxFh8