Free Traffic Legal Advice

thanks so much for your help, attached my draft appeal below & would appreciate any constructive criticism if possible! planning on taking to a tribunal if they don’t accept it



I received a PCN on the 5th of Jan for parking on a single yellow line on Sharp Street in the Angel Meadows area.  However, the signage indicating that this area was within a controlled parking zone is completely insufficient on my journey & it was very challenging to identify the zone on the Manchester City Council website so I’m appealing on this basis.

I entered the parking zone turning right from the inner ring road onto Corporation street, where there is a yellow CPZ sign in place on the left-hand side of the junction. However, I was turning into the right lane onto a very busy dual carriageway & there was thus no clear sign that was visible to me on my side of the road as I was entering the zone. I’ve attached an image showing this junction at a similar time, demonstrating that it’s virtually impossible to see the sign facing away from me on the far side of the road, particularly whilst giving way to oncoming traffic. When I parked on Sharp Street, I checked the surrounding area thoroughly for signage & was unable to find any informing me of the single yellow line restrictions; I also checked ‘The Controlled Parking Zone’ page on the council website and verified that this street was outside of it, which suggested there weren’t restrictions in place. The wording of this webpage doesn’t at all highlight that other CPZs are located outside the city centre

I’ve attached images showing various entrances to the City Centre CPZ, where signage is very clearly visible & often provided on both sides of the road, even on single carriageway streets such as Cambridge Street. The signage when I entered the CPZ should have been provided at both sides of the dual carriageway, so that drivers entering the right lane would pass the sign and be made aware of the parking restrictions.

The Angel Meadows CPZ could also be much more accessible on your website; it can only be found by accessing Controlled Parking Zones > Resident Parking Schemes > Ancoats, Miles Platting & Collyhurst Parking Schemes before accessing a map of this particular CPZ. For people like myself who don’t live in these areas & may not have a good knowledge of the city geography, the restrictions are hence virtually inaccessible on your website.

I’m hence appealing the PCN given that the signage was clearly insufficient for a busy dual-carriageway junction & extremely unclear on your website.

I can see one on maps on the junction between the ring road & corporation st which I would’ve passed - it was dark & I joined to the right lane, giving way to a heavy traffic from my left so it wasn’t clear to me at all that I was entering a CPZ

given the lack of a sign on the right-hand lane of the dual carriageway, worth appealing on this basis?

shouldn’t be within the CPZ based on MCC website - I entered from the ring road via Simpson St, no signage indicating restrictions there either.

Manchester, code 01 parked in a restricted street, Sharp Street (outside MCC CPZ)

PCN details as follows:

QM03056598
FV63 UBT

Thanks for all the help - the PCN was cancelled without any contest by MCC

Thank you, I've attached my formal representation - just wondering how I could argue the contravention didn't occur when I did pull up into the suspended bay (if only for a matter of minutes), would this be due to the lack of clear signage?

My partner is the registered keeper of the vehicle, so had to make the formal representation on my behalf - the NOR was therefore also sent to me

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Hi, just wondering if you've had an opportunity to review this letter & the images I've taken? Thank you so much for your help - I'm considering making a formal appeal so just wondered if anyone had any advice on the best course of action.

Please see below - thank you for your help

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]