#1 Re: Brent, code 16 parked in a permit zone on event day, Windermere Avenue, on street parking bay
on 17 Dec, 2025 00:39 in Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on)
Dear London Borough of Brent,Your informal rejection states that:There may not be yellow lines and/or marked bays on the road/street in certain areas withinthe event day zone (usually Environmental and/or Conservation Areas) to indicate that it is arestricted street – sign plates would indicate where permit holders only can park within thezone. The signage requirements within the event day zone have been authorised by TheSecretary of State for Transport.Be that as it may, there are only two types of zone that do not require signs and marked bays,these are Restricted Parking Zones and Permit Parking Areas, the zone in question is neither.When entering an RPZ or a PPA a motorist is put on notice by the zone boundary sign thatthe restrictions will not necessarily be signposted on the streets within the zone, and thatalerts the driver to look for signs even if there are none in the vicinity of his chosen parkinglocation and the road appears otherwise unrestricted.However even with a PPA or an RPZ, a marked parking bay would be accompanied by anupright sign to inform road users of the terms of use of the bay, given that the bay signifies adeparture from the requirement for a permit (for a PPA) or the prohibition on waiting and/orloading (for an RPZ), such that if one were to find a marked bay within either an RPZ or aPPA without an upright sign the signage would not necessarily be adequate in any event.The zone you have created is not a PPA or an RPZ and whatever the status of authorisation ofthe signage might be, the council is subject to an overriding duty under regulation 18(1)of The Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996,which for brevity I will call the LATOR 18 duty.The LATOR 18 duty requires the provision of signage which, when looked at as a whole,provides adequate information as to the effect of the traffic management order, such thatpersons using the road are adequately informed of the effects of the traffic management orderwithout recourse to other sources such as performing an online search.The LATOR 18 duty also includes the following at paragraph c:in a case where the order revokes, amends or alters the application of a previous order, theremoval or replacement of existing traffic signs as the authority considers requisite to avoidconfusion to road users by signs being left in the wrong positions.In this instance the council has left a marked bay with no upright sign, this misleadinglycreates confusion for persons using the road because in all circumstances (including RPZs,PPAs and red route) a white bay with no sign would indicate that parking is permittedwithout any restrictions. It follows that the white bay markings, in the absence of a regulatorysign, are liable to cause confusion to road users. It is also well known that a parking bay isonly subject to the restrictions indicated on the sign for the bay, and motorists are oftenwarned not to rely on signs away from the bay because they cannot rely on such signs todetermine the restrictions within a bay.My vehicle was parked in the long marked parking place outside 126 to 104 WindermereAvenue. There is no traffic plate within that parking place and none mounted on lampcolumns 26 or 27 that sit within the bay.While LATOR 18 imposes a duty on local authorities, in Nottingham City Council, R (on theapplication of) v Bus Lane Adjudicator & Ors [2017] EWHC 430 (Admin) the High Courtconfirmed that:It is well-established that a failure to comply with the regulation 18 duty as to signage is aproper ground on which an adjudicator may allow an appeal against the issue of a penaltycharge notice on the ground that the alleged contravention of the relevant traffic regulationorder did not occur. (See R (London Borough of Camden) v. The Parking Adjudicator [2011]EWHC 295 (Admin), per Burnett J. at [50] – [51]).In light of the failure to discharge the obligations under regulation 18 of LATOR the allegedcontravention did not occur, and the penalty charge must be cancelled.Yours faithfully,----------------------------------------------Link to council responseI'm a bit confused because it says that I will receive other info in a Notice of Rejection letter, but surely this is the notice of rejection?