More Parking Ticket hassles ...

[jeremytaylor]

I have a residents visitors permit to park in the side street at work which is subject to a CPZ in Brent, NW London. All legitimate. I parked on the morning of 5/12/06 and didn't return until 6/12/06 (Christmas party to blame ... hic!). When I returned there was a parking ticket wallet with just the return envelope in it. Strange, I thought, because I knew I had my permit and had parked legally. I recall seeing a Water van parked on the single yellow opposite, working on a repair, but cars could still pass along the road with no problem.

A few days later I saw a resident in the street who I knew, and she asked if I got a parking ticket the other day. I said no, but I did have one empty ticket envelope under my wiper. She than told me how on this other day the wardens had had a field day giving tickets to legally parked resident cars because, apparently ... the bays had been suspended. And yet none of the residents were aware of this and had continued to park ... and got tickets. Apparently the bays had been suspended because of the above-mentioned water works.

And so today in the post I receive two 'Notice To Owner' for the 5/12/06 and 6/12/06. The date of issue of the Notices is 10/1/07.

My defences are:
1. No offence under RTA 1991 as no ticket placed on vehicle or handed to driver. (The empty wallet suggests either the warden was incompetent or a third party removed it, but does this really happen?)
2. Ticket unreasonable as any suspension signs were not clearly visible to me, nor to a number of fellow residents, by all accounts.

The signs indicating the residents parking restrictions (CPZ) are on lamp posts. At the location in question they are @ 60m apart. There is a post in between, but this has no sign fixed to it. Is this relevant?

I am NOT trying to get out of a legitimate ticket. The circumstances above are a factual description of what happened. A car is essential for my job (visiting houses) and I am well used to receiving and paying parking tickets because of inadequate parking arrangements all over London. However, any constructive and/or knowledgable assistance from anyone in the know would be gratefully received (e.g. Robert Saunders!). I don't see why I should pay £160 when, on the surface, the tickets seem illegitimate and/or unfair.

 

[Howard]

When i used to work for a removal company , we used to get bays suspended for us all the time ....

Usually there will be a 3 sided square notice cable tied round a lamp post / posts by the bays ....

The suspension people do take photos of this when they put them up , so that when what has happed to you happens, they have a defence , but this was in Richmond, i presume Brent would do the same .....

Do they actually have to hand you the ticket or put it on the car ? i thought this was an 'urban myth' , once it's written , it doesn't matter if you jump in your car and drive off before he puts it on .... i may be wrong though .....

EDIT :- Just read about the lamp posts , usually they will put the notices at the start and end of the bays , which is what it looks like they have done , so you might have to pay it i'm afraid ....

 

[robert.saunders]

Ok, you need proof from the LA of their pictures when they placed the suspension. As you haven't seen any signage it's a good place to start.

You then need to direct your appeal to the fact that residents who live there were not aware of the suspension either - did they receive a letter detailing suspension? Sometimes this happens in residents areas.

With regards to the empty envelope on your car, yes people (kids) do remove the PCN but normally the whole thing, so that's odd. Again the Parking Attendant should have a photo of the PCN affixed to your car however.

if the suspension signage was in place perhaps it was too far apart, but I don't know obviously. It should be clear to you, however, maybe when you parked on the 5th you just didn't see it, and then when you returned on the 6th the suspension had already been removed prior to your return. But I can't account for the lack of PCN affixed to your windscreen.

So, worth an appeal but I'm not sure how this would go tbh.

To clear up the other matter about affixing to windscreen etc:

Police FPN - once started, even if you drive off, you will receive ticket or summons (via DVLA records)

LA PCN - has to be affixed to vehicle or handed to person who appears to be driver

Some London LA PCN - are now postal so if your contravention is witnessed and recorded on "approved device" eg CCTV the DVLA registered owner/keeper will receive a PCN/Notice to Owner so it doesn't need to be affixed to vehicle. This type of enforcement will roll out nationwide under the Traffic Management Act 2004.

Hope helps

Rob

 

[jeremytaylor]

Rob

Many thanks for your excellent advice. Will let you know how it goes in due course.

Jeremy