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Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) / Parking fine from Wandsworth Council - while trying to buy ticket.
« on: January 02, 2026, 08:14:43 pm »
Hello,
On 24th November I parked in Wandsworth, London. I left my car, and there were some signs up about parking (that ultimately weren't relevant, they were about parking restrictions changing in the future) but they caused a bit of confusion. Anyway, after understanding them, I went to the ticket machine to buy a ticket.
It said to buy a ticket on the RingGo app, so I downloaded the app, created an account, and got as far as entering my payment details when I saw a parking warden at my car, who had just finished giving me a ticket.
I ran back to him to try to show him I was in the process of buying a ticket, but he disappeared on a moped before I could.
The ticket says the car was observed from 12.34pm and the ticket was issued at 12.40pm. Photos were taken up until 12.42pm - a total time of 8 minutes.
After swearing profusely and gathering my thoughts, I managed to get photos at my car at 12.44pm, showing I was there. Interestingly, the warden got photos of just about every angle of my car, showing the street - except the one angle that would have shown the parking meter, with me standing next to it, figuring out the RingGo app!
I didn't complete the purchase at that point - I just got back in my car and left, quite upset (which I now realise might have been a mistake). I appealed the parking fine, but the appeal was denied, stating the below:
I acknowledge your comments that you had briefly left the vehicle to check the parking restrictions, and that you had to download the RingGo app. It is Wandsworth policy to grant 5 minutes of observation prior to issue of a penalty. When parked in a bay, drivers are expected to ensure that parking rights are activated or a ticket purchased and displayed in the vehicle within 5 minutes of parking. In this instance, the vehicle was first observed at 12:34pm by which time no driver was seen with the vehicle, and the PCN was issued at 12:40pm. The Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) also checks for permits and cashless parking rights prior to issue of the PCN, and photographs were captured until 12:42pm, 8 minutes after the vehicle was first seen.
By your own admission you were not able to activate cashless parking before the PCN was issued; however, this does not grant an exemption. The shared use bay also offered parking rights in the form of a pay & display ticket which could be purchased from a machine nearby.
I don't think it's reasonable to suggest that someone can find a parking meter, download an app, create an account, upload payment information, and pay for parking, all within 5 minutes. They say I could have used pay and display - and sure, but they make the RingGo app a possibility which ought to be reasonable. I also (after getting the fine) took a photo of the machine with the RingGo information, and it actually looks like the pay and display machine may be out of service - it doesn't have anything at all showing on the screen.
I'm not sure of the best course of action. Attached is the photo of the PCN, and also their response to my appeal.
Any suggestions? Thanks so much.
On 24th November I parked in Wandsworth, London. I left my car, and there were some signs up about parking (that ultimately weren't relevant, they were about parking restrictions changing in the future) but they caused a bit of confusion. Anyway, after understanding them, I went to the ticket machine to buy a ticket.
It said to buy a ticket on the RingGo app, so I downloaded the app, created an account, and got as far as entering my payment details when I saw a parking warden at my car, who had just finished giving me a ticket.
I ran back to him to try to show him I was in the process of buying a ticket, but he disappeared on a moped before I could.
The ticket says the car was observed from 12.34pm and the ticket was issued at 12.40pm. Photos were taken up until 12.42pm - a total time of 8 minutes.
After swearing profusely and gathering my thoughts, I managed to get photos at my car at 12.44pm, showing I was there. Interestingly, the warden got photos of just about every angle of my car, showing the street - except the one angle that would have shown the parking meter, with me standing next to it, figuring out the RingGo app!
I didn't complete the purchase at that point - I just got back in my car and left, quite upset (which I now realise might have been a mistake). I appealed the parking fine, but the appeal was denied, stating the below:
I acknowledge your comments that you had briefly left the vehicle to check the parking restrictions, and that you had to download the RingGo app. It is Wandsworth policy to grant 5 minutes of observation prior to issue of a penalty. When parked in a bay, drivers are expected to ensure that parking rights are activated or a ticket purchased and displayed in the vehicle within 5 minutes of parking. In this instance, the vehicle was first observed at 12:34pm by which time no driver was seen with the vehicle, and the PCN was issued at 12:40pm. The Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) also checks for permits and cashless parking rights prior to issue of the PCN, and photographs were captured until 12:42pm, 8 minutes after the vehicle was first seen.
By your own admission you were not able to activate cashless parking before the PCN was issued; however, this does not grant an exemption. The shared use bay also offered parking rights in the form of a pay & display ticket which could be purchased from a machine nearby.
I don't think it's reasonable to suggest that someone can find a parking meter, download an app, create an account, upload payment information, and pay for parking, all within 5 minutes. They say I could have used pay and display - and sure, but they make the RingGo app a possibility which ought to be reasonable. I also (after getting the fine) took a photo of the machine with the RingGo information, and it actually looks like the pay and display machine may be out of service - it doesn't have anything at all showing on the screen.
I'm not sure of the best course of action. Attached is the photo of the PCN, and also their response to my appeal.
Any suggestions? Thanks so much.