Free Traffic Legal Advice

Search the forum for “double dip”, it’s not uncommon. Nothing to do with a “national outage”, just incompetence.

You do not have to prove that you weren’t there, they have to prove on the balance of probabilities that you were. Your statement that you weren’t that you’d repeat under oath if necessary will be enough. I just suggest for now you write down your activities during the day whilst they’re fresh in your mind.

Of course you need to “appeal” to them within their timeframe, again search the forum for appeals that have been used before.

Personally I’d be telling them that their equipment and manual checks are faulty, that you weren’t there as claimed but visited twice on the same day, and you expect them to cancel because you won’t be paying.

Feel free to post your proposed appeal here first for comments.

See also 7.3 in https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/Sector%20Code%20Templates/sectorsingleCodeofPracticeVersion1.1130426-2.pdf

Thank you so much JFollows and Richard.  I searched the forum and copied, pasted, and edited this.  Is it OK to send? 

Group Nexus
CP Plus Limited T/A Group Nexus
Jack Straw’s Castle
North End Way
Hampstead
London
NWS3 7ES

Subject: Formal Complaint – Unlawful DVLA Data Request and Breach of GDPR and KADOE Contract

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) 01865261590018, issued to me as the registered keeper of a vehicle in relation to an alleged contravention on 08/06/2026 at Borehamwood Shopping Park.

This PCN was issued based on ANPR evidence that misrepresents the facts due to a "double-dip" error. The driver made two separate visits to the location on the day in question: one at 09:53 and another at approximately 20:05. Your system erroneously treated these two separate visits as a single continuous stay.

Failure to Comply with BPA/IPC Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP)

Section 7.3(d) of the PPSCoP clearly states:

"Photographic evidence must not be used by a parking operator as the basis for issuing a parking charge unless:  images generated by ANPR or CCTV have been subject to a manual quality control check, including the accuracy of the timestamp and the risk of keying errors."

Additionally, Note 1 states:

"The manual quality control check for remote ANPR and CCTV systems is particularly important for detecting issues such as “double dipping”, where image camera systems might have failed to accurately record each instance when a vehicle enters and leaves controlled land, and for checking images that might have been taken other than by a trained parking attendant (see Clause 15)."

In this case, the required manual quality control checks were clearly not performed. The ANPR system has recorded the images of the vehicle's first exit and second entry, but your operator has failed to apply these "orphan images" to the vehicle's registration, resulting in a misleading assumption of continuous parking. This failure to perform the necessary manual checks violates the PPSCoP which means that the PCN has been issued incorrectly and is not valid.

As the PPSCoP requires, I request you provide evidence of the quality check performed before issuing the PCN, including the name of the individual responsible for verifying the ANPR data. The absence of proper checks means you did not have Reasonable Cause to issue the PCN.

Unlawful Request for Keeper Data
Because of these failures, you did not have Reasonable Cause to request my data from the DVLA, constituting a breach of the KADOE contract. You accessed my personal information unlawfully, and I will be making a formal complaint to the DVLA.

Furthermore, I reserve the right to take action for this GDPR breach under the Data Protection Act 2018, as the unlawful request for my personal data was not justified.

Conclusion
Please confirm that this Parking Charge Notice will be cancelled, and provide a formal response to this complaint, detailing how the "double-dip" error occurred and how your team will rectify such failures in the future. This formal response is essential as I will also be escalating the matter to the BPA.

Yours faithfully,

[My Name]
Registered Keeper of the Vehicle