Free Traffic Legal Advice

Looking for advice on two private parking PCNs from Carparkers (Anglia) Ltd at Sea Palling / Clink Road car park (Norfolk).

I have received two Notice to Keeper PCNs (24th May and 26th May), both for exactly the same alleged contravention: “Parked without a valid Pay & Display Ticket”. These were postal notices with ANPR entry/exit photos.

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Facts:

* Driver parked in the Sea Palling car park (Clink Road / Clink Lane, NR12 0UL).
* On both occasions, the payment machine nearest to where driver parked was not working.
* Driver walked to the nearest operational machine, which was immediately adjacent and only about a metre from the boundary. Looking at google maps this could possibly be within the neighbouring car park (Beach Rock car park).
* The two car parks are separated only by a low fence with multiple proper pedestrian gaps/openings, making it easy to walk between them.
* There was nothing obvious to the driver indicating that they could not use that nearby machine, particularly given the nearest machine was unavailable.
* Other motorists on both occasions also appeared to use the same nearby machine after finding the nearer one not working.

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Importantly, Driver did pay for parking on both visits.

For 24th May, the driver still has the physical pay and display ticket:

* Vehicle registration entered correctly
* Ticket bought 7 minutes after arrival
* Time purchased covered the entire stay
* £3 paid
* Vehicle left before expiry

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The PCN alleges “parked without a valid pay and display ticket”, but the driver plainly did purchase one for the registration and stay.

For 26th May, the driver no longer has the physical ticket, but the driver does have a matching bank/card payment around the relevant time.

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My suspicion is that because the nearest machine was broken, the driver may have paid at the adjacent car park’s machine without realising the ticket would not apply, but the driver genuinely believed they were complying and had paid.

The driver is planning to appeal both. Does this sound like a reasonable first appeal / POPLA case, particularly around unclear signage/boundaries, machine failure, and evidence of payment?

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PCN cover:
PCN back page:
Ticket for 24th May:
Car park address which was parked in: Clink Rd, Sea Palling, Norwich NR12 0AL
Image of payment machines (behind the big 'car park' sign is the broken payment machine and on the right is the machine that was paid at):

Thank you so much for your response. I understand what you’ve suggested and will respond with that.

The other ticket for 26/May has the same date of notice, 8/June.

14 days after 26/May is 9/June - technically 1st class post could arrive next day so does this ticket stand, and the driver needs to go with an appeal?

You may wish to consult paragraphs 9(4) and 9(5):