Free Traffic Legal Advice

You didn't have to make any payment if you'd only appealed with the following, which you should do now anyway and that should be the end of the matter:

I am the registered keeper. NCP cannot hold a registered keeper liable for any alleged contravention on land that is under statutory control. As a matter of fact and law, NCP will be well aware that they cannot use the PoFA provisions because Gatwick Airport is not 'relevant land'.

If Gatwick Airport wanted to hold owners or keepers liable under Airport Bylaws, that would be within the landowner's gift and another matter entirely. However, not only is that not pleaded, it is also not legally possible because NCP is not the Airport owner and your 'parking charge' is not and never attempts to be a penalty. It is created for NCP's own profit (as opposed to a bylaws penalty that goes to the public purse) and NCP has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.

The registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtK can only hold the driver liable. NCP have no hope at POPLA, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN.

There is no legal obligation on the known keeper (the recipient of the Notice to Keeper (NtK)) to reveal the identity of the unknown driver and no inference or assumptions can be made.

As the location is under statutory control, PoFA does not apply, which means that if the unknown driver is not identified, they cannot transfer liability for the charge from the unknown driver to the known keeper.

Quick response from NCP and a successful appeal. Many thanks.

Out of interest, does this apply to most airports or is Gatwick a unique case?

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It’s not limited to airports. The key point is whether the land is under statutory control, such as byelaws. Land governed by statutory control is not classified as ‘relevant land’ under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA), meaning the parking operator cannot transfer liability to the keeper if the driver is not identified. This principle applies to locations such as airports, railway stations, ports, some local authority land, and other areas covered by byelaws, traffic regulation orders (TROs), or similar statutory instruments.