Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,

I have been taken to court over a parking charge notice in a private car park.

I didn't park my car, I was dropping my wife off to post something into one of the houses on the development. I dropped her off, turned the car around and then waited for her to come back, I never turned the engine off and was in the middle of the road when waiting.

I have attached all the parking signs and pictures of my car clearly showing me dropping my wife off and then waiting for her to return.

I have argued my case with the legal representative but they are saying that I parked on the development and the signs clearly say no parking, even though I was waiting with the engine on.

If anyone can help me by advising on a defence that I can put forward that would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Thanks, I never received a ticket on the vehicle just the attached NTK sent through the post.

I was parked there for 6 minutes.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

I waited for my wife to post a parcel and was on the development for a maximum of 6 minutes as shown in the attached pictures, half of that time I was driving in, turning around and leaving the other half I was sitting in the car waiting for my wife with the engine running in the middle of the road.

What is defined as parked or waiting, how long does the car need to be stationary to be parked? I was under the impression that I was waiting and not parked because I was in the vehicle with the engine running.

The Road Traffic Act 1991 (c.40) Clause 66 states:

For the purposes of this Part of this Act, a penalty charge is payable with respect to a vehicle, by the owner of the vehicle, if—
(a)the vehicle has been left—
(i)otherwise than as authorised by or under any order relating to the designated parking place; or
(ii)beyond the period of parking which has been paid for;
(b)no parking charge payable with respect to the vehicle has been paid; or
(c)there has, with respect to the vehicle, been a contravention of, or failure to comply with, any provision made by or under any order relating to the designated parking place.

Any advice on defending this court claim would be appreciated.

Thanks!

'I couldn't be bothered reading them as I was only going to be a few minutes' wouldn't be a suggested defence!

That hasn't been suggested as a defence.

One thing we haven't seen yet, which could be an important consideration as The Rookie has already noted, is the layout of the signage on the site, and whether it is suitably prominent.

1. Your topic title is incorrect. No-one is taking you to court, or at least not yet! I suggest you change it to NTK Received - What Are My Options or similar.

On what basis have you arrived at that conclusion? The incident occurred in May of last year, so it seems entirely plausible that the matter is now proceeding to court.

It would be useful to know from the OP exactly what stage of that process we are up to, however.