Free Traffic Legal Advice

I live in rural East Sussex and have visited a friend in North London a couple times over the years. My route always takes me through Blackwall Tunnel. I was very surprised this morning to receive a contravention oweing £90 for not paying the blackwall tunnel  charge.

I must have been totally oblivious on my drive as I didn't notice signs plus I have driven through it before without getting charged (pre the introduction of the charges)

Is there any hope of appealing on ignorance? I suspect I will get another one soon as I came back on the same tunnel the next day. but that letter hasnt arrived.

@b789 the following response was received on 05/02/2026 via email.  3 attachments of CCTV of car and one attachment called Parking Charge Notice (the usual stufd they send through the door)

Good Afternoon,

 

Thank you for your letter received 04/02/2026

 

Parking Charge refs: FP481691

Complaint ref: A39065

 

Your complaint has been referred to myself for review, please see my findings below:

 

Parking Charge FP481691 issued on 11/09/2025 at Bewl Water
Contravention – Not paid for the full duration of stay or not registering your vehicle
The vehicle with registration X15RAK was observed via the ANPR cameras entering site on 11/09/2025 at 06:46 and leaving on 11/09/2025 at 09:17. Total time on site 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 39 seconds. (Photographic evidence attached)
First Parking applied to the DVLA to request registered keeper details on 15/09/2025
DVLA keeper details received on 17/09/2025 and Notice to Keeper printed and posted on 17/09/2025. (please see attached)
As no payment, appeal or transfer of liability was received within 28 days of our initial correspondence, the case was referred to our appointed debt collectors on 23/10/2025.
DCBL are now administering the debt on behalf of First Parking
 

I have reviewed the photographic evidence, and I am satisfied that the Parking Charge was issued correctly and in accordance with the Code of Practice.

 

There is clear and sufficient signage on site advising motorists of the terms and conditions.

First Parking has processed the parking charge correctly and in line with the Code of Practice.

 

Due to non-payment, it was referred to debt collection on the 23/10/2025 and DCBL are now administering the debt on our behalf.

 

To answer the points in your letter:

 

The land on which your car was observed via ANPR camera’s is private land. Only the water/reservoir is governed by Medway Water/Southern Water.

 

Bewl Water is primarily managed and operated as a private leisure facility by the Elite Leisure Collection(part of the Markerstudy Group) since 2015, although the reservoir itself remains owned by the utility company Southern Water. The recreational grounds are privately managed.

•           Leisure & Operations: The leisure facilities, including fishing, water sports, and the aqua park, are managed by Elite Leisure Collection.

•           Water Authority: The reservoir and its water resources are controlled by Southern Water, serving as a vital public water source for Kent and East Sussex.

 

The parking charge has been issued under PoFA and is compliant.

 

In summary, I am satisfied the parking charge had been issued correctly at the time and in accordance with the signage in situ.

 

We have reached the end of our complaint process, and my response now concludes our complaints procedure. I trust you will appreciate that there will be no further review of your complaint.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Kelly Arnold

Account Manager

 

www.firstparking.co.uk

Thank you, will do.

Thanks for your answers. Apologies but I did not send the letter above. I opted for another forum advice of first contacting Bewl Water themselves and asked them to cancel this as it was predatory. They said they would look into it and never got back to me then I received this letter yesterday.

On the next letter I receive from DCBL, I will post the letter above to them. Or do you think I should just post it now before they contact again?

Thank you for your help.

The Bewl Water FAQ itself says parking is charged from 08:00:

https://www.bewlwater.co.uk/faq/

Registered keeper has now received a £100 PCN from First Parking LLP for Bewl Water.

The notice says the car entered at 06:46 and left at 09:17 (151 minutes). The allegation is that payment wasn’t made for the full duration.

The alleged driver has a Ringo receipt showing payment from 08:03–09:03. The car left at 09:17.

So it looks like 3 minutes late to start and 14 minutes over at the end. But surely there should be a grace period either side?

It’s highly confusing – the website itself shows 08:00, which is exactly why payment wasn’t made before then. Registered keeper has no idea what this clear signage is outside Bewl Water about private land that letter aludes to. Keeper is only aware that there is on grounds parking which begins at 08:00 which was largely respected.

To make things worse, the letter is dated 17/09/2025, but it was only found on the doormat this morning (27/09/2025). It says the £100 full charge must be paid by 01/10/2025 at 11:42am, which doesn’t leave much time to deal with it properly.

How does this add up to a £100 bill? It makes no sense at all.

https://ibb.co/NgxGH8K8

Thanks both. Just to check my understanding so far:

- I don’t need to take any immediate action and can ignore the 19th April deadline in the Letter of Claim, unless I receive a County Court claim form (N1SDT) from the CCBC.
- If that happens, I’ll redact my name, address, claim number and MCOL password before posting it here, but leave the dates and PoC fully visible.

I haven’t yet sent the robust response to BW Legal as outlined in the MSE Newbies thread (disputing the debt, requesting a 30-day hold, asking the two questions about VAT and damages vs contract). I’ve also not submitted a complaint to the landowner.

Should I be doing both of those now, and in what order? Just want to make sure I’m following the right steps.

FURTHER UPDATE

I believe I was manipulated into paying CDER group. The enforcement agent told me that between the time TEC respond about my appeal and now, my car is still on an active search and will be towed if found. He suggested it was better to pay the fine of the latest CDER fine of £424 and then when TEC approve my case I can get a refund through Council.

In speaking to Council they do not take any liability now that I have paid.

They said they did not know what CDER group was talking about regarding this and this is not how it works.

I am now £424 out of pocket and trying to contact TEC on phone to see if CDER group can issue refunds or I can appeal it. Unlikely.

FYI, I have heard back from the council with below. They want me to fill out a TE9 form and a witness statement to explain the situation and submit it to tribunal. Once tribunal receive they will pause Bailiffs and Bailiffs will notify council too, until a decision is made.

I will have to just play the sorry card and explain the address issue. If there are any comments about how I should write this letter please do send them asap as I have a deadline of tomorrow morning 6am to pay bailiff.

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Traffic Management Act 2004
Thank you for contacting us.
Your case is out of our hands: the Debt Recovery Agent now have a warrant to recover the money from you.
We sent you a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) because our camera evidence shows your vehicle in Mount
Pleasant Road bus lane/gate at a time when only buses are allowed there. All this evidence is available to view
online.

If you wish to pay or contact someone, contact the Debt Recovery Agent. They are: Mid Kent Enforcement
Services (MKES) enquiries@midkentenforcement.co.uk or call 01622 602599.
You have stated you didn’t receive the original letters and weren’t aware that these had been issued but have
now been contacted by our enforcement agents. I can confirm DVLA provided us your address which all the
required statutory documents were sent too.

Without payment or an appeal, the case has progressed to the debt recovery stage. Our debt recovery agents
appear to have traced and contacted you. They apply additional charges to the original penalty.
The only advice we can give is to visit the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) website (detailed below) and
complete a Witness Statement (Form TE9).

https://www.gov.uk/appeal-against-a-penalty-charge-notice/court-order
The section you need to go to is: “How to challenge”, and select: “a moving traffic contravention outside of
London if your fine was issued on or after 1 June 2022 - use form TE9”. Please show evidence that you have
contact TEC to the enforcement agent.

Once TEC receives the TE9, they will ask us to put the case on hold and issue a Revoking Order (RO). When
we receive the RO, we will re-issue the NtO to the contact details you provided in the TE9. At that point, the
PCN will revert to the appeals stage and charge level (£70), and you can either pay the PCN or submit a
formal challenge.