Free Traffic Legal Advice

And there is a post behind my car with a parking restriction sign but it is for the yellow lines behind the bays rather than the bays themselves.

Good afternoon all

I'm posting this topic in the hope someone can help me clarify whether this PCN is valid before I pay it as I have my suspicions!

So to start, here is what happened. My husband and I have a visitor parking permit with Croydon Council as my parents live there so there are days we go over to help them for the day. Tuesday 4th March was one of those days. We parked the car in Thornhill Road, which is the road that runs opposite the road they live on, at 6.45am as usual and paid for parking - no signs anywhere (don't have a photo to show this as I'm not in the habit of taking random photos of trees and roads where we park!). We left the car for the day and came home in the evening at around 6pm to find a PCN on our car and a load of suspended parking bay signs on the trees which had suddenly appeared and happened to include the bay we were parked in. I have included an image taken from the end of the road showing where our car was parked and where these signs appeared within a few hours: https://imgur.com/a/Vc028CY

Now referencing the sign itself, it wasn't overly clear and it looked like a sign the residents of the flats next to these parking bays installed themselves so that their contractors can park and their refurb works can go ahead. I was of the opinion that a suspended parking sign had to be put up well in advance - a few days? Is that down to the council to prove? I thought there also had to be an A4 sheet of paper attached stating the dates of the restriction, what works are being completed and a reference number for the suspension approval which the council provide when giving permission for said suspension. This sign did not have a reference number and was vague on what works were taking place. There was also an issue I had with 'March' not having a capital letter - I'm sure the council would not have made a simple mistake like this with a sign although the way things are nowadays, I could be wrong! I have attached an image of the sign: https://imgur.com/a/J7BdJ36

Finally I have enclosed a photocopy of the PCN received: https://imgur.com/a/2ApAFHq

All images are attached as well just in case the links don't work!

Hopefully this is everything needed to help with this but happy to respond further with more details if needed.

Thanks in advance!
C

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]