I received a notice to keeper PCN in the post today and I think its ridiculous. I entered a small area by a shop which I thought was just a small lay by for shop customers to stop, pop into the shop and leave. I was stopped for a total of 8 minutes. No signage as you enter or leave and just a small warning sign on the wall about 5-10 meters away from the last bay which i only noticed after I recieved the ticket. (Adress of area where this took place is 22 sea road, Bournemouth)
If anybody could help me fight this ridiculous ticket that would be a great help.
If you park on private land, depending on the size of the car park there is a “consideration period” to allow you time to read the signs and decide not to park. It’s likely in this case that this is 5 minutes. So the driver will have parked for longer than this, will have entered into a contract by reading the signs and parking, and is now being invoiced for payment under the contract. The invoice is to the registered keeper, not to the driver, because they don’t know who the driver is unless you tell them, but the Protections of Freedoms Act 2012 allows them to transfer liability to the registered keeper as long as specific requirements of the legislation are complied with.
If the signs were missing or unclear, an argument could be made that a contract wasn’t entered into.
You should read
https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/read-this-first-private-parking-charges-forum-guide/ for two reasons:
- to understand how to post images here so that we can see the Notice to Keeper and signage
- to understand to refer to the driver in the third person, don’t use “I” for example.
If I've found the right place on Google maps I'd agree signage is woefully lacking, one densely worded sign on a wall, no signs on the entrances etc. So it really isn't clear it's private land.
Need to see the PCN though, was it on the windscreen? Have you had anything through the post (NTK.?). Which operator will alsomake a difference in how this will play out.
Can you get photos of the signage, this is crucial.
Can you get photos of the signage, this is crucial.
I am going back there to do this within the next hour. I will post my findings here
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I agree with previous comments re shocking signage.
The PCN also has questionable PoFA compliance but that is unlikely to work in any initial appeal.
It's already borderline worn off on GSV.
That wouldn't count as a relevant entry sign in any case - there needs to be a sign on a post or wall which directly faces the driver as they enter the private land.
I'm actually very familiar with this area as I have a holiday property in the area. I can say that I've never noticed any signage and I've walked past this location dozens of times.
I do however understand the need for enforcement as traffic and lack of parking in Boscombe is terrible especially in summer. Most of the local car parks are full up by 10am.
Here's the photos of the area. Fair bit of signage that looks new will have to checkd ashcam to see if was there when I entered
Image 20260606 103054 hosted on ImgBB
Image 20260606 113813 hosted on ImgBB
Image 20260606 113526 hosted on ImgBB
ImgBB 
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