Why a website about parking and moving traffic offences?

In the days of the old traffic warden if you parked illegally the probability was that you would not get caught. However with the advent of “decriminalised parking enforcement” carried out by local councils, the likelihood of being caught is much greater. This started in London in 1994 and is now being introduced in towns and cities throughout the land. And worse still local authorities are now using CCTV enforcement as their latest weapon against illegal parking and moving traffic offences it is reasonable to expect that all parking enforcement will be carried out by local councils before much longer. It is essential, therefore, that Motorists understand parking regulations and especially what a local authority is required to do with their procedures, signage, lineage, compliance with government guidance etc.

In the year to 31^st March 2008 to 2009 a total of 4,689,309 penalty charge notices (parking tickets) were issued in London alone for parking contraventions. Plus almost 750,000 more for other contraventions such as Bus Lanes and moving traffic. One council alone, Westminster city council alone issued around 719,038 tickets most at £120 a time although some of these were for moving traffic offences.

However many hundreds of thousands of tickets are cancelled each year either by the councils themselves or the parking adjudicator. In fact in the year ended March 2009 in Westminster 86% of all appeals to the parking adjudicator were allowed against the council and in over 73% of cases the council didn’t even contest them. We use Westminster as an example as they issue more tickets than any other council in the country. Nationwide millions of tickets are issued annually.

The use of parking and moving traffic enforcement for revenue raising is illegal but some councils place enormous pressure on their parking attendants to issue tickets. Councils subcontract out their parking enforcement to companies like NCP and APCOA. These are companies who are in business to make money.

This website is our opportunity to help motorists “fight back”.

We have had many successes in making parking enforcement fairer. Our latest being to persuade Westminster Council in London to stop enforcement by moped based Civil Enforcement officers. In June 08 we provided evidence to the BBC about illegal enforcement by councils of some parking and moving traffic contraventions. This resulted in a major news article and 2 statements issued by the department of transport. See further on for other success stories where we have helped the motorist.

Much of the content of the website is free of charge but as you can imagine it has taken many months to set up and it has cost many thousands of pounds. If you would like to contribute to our ongoing efforts in fighting for the motorist or show your gratitude for us helping to have your penalty charge notice cancelled then please join today. By joining and supporting us you will unlock further information to help you fight you penalty charge notice and you will also be contributing to our continuing efforts through campaigning and lobbying to have the current system overhauled.

The current system is an absolute disgrace and we are working relentlessly to have it changed.

A few years ago there was a detailed report prepared on parking enforcement in London after extensive fact finding and meetings. Lynne Featherstone was the Chair and the opening two paragraphs of her introduction are as follows.

“There is nothing like coming back to your car and finding an “unfair” parking ticket not to raise not only our blood pressure but also our innate sense of fair play but “what is fair?”.

In a city which has too many cars to move around or park without associated rules, we expect restrictions or penalties so long as their purpose is to alleviate traffic problems and not to raise revenue. Other extracts from their report are as follows.

“There is undoubtedly for many Londoners a suspicion that the nature of parking enforcement contracts, the number of tickets being issued as well as the instances of improperly issued tickets – whatever the magnitude – represent parking enforcement being used as revenue raising.”

The report also says, “Some members of the public now believe that the distinction between the need for maintaining safe traffic flow and regulating parking space has become blurred. Many view parking enforcement as an invisible tax.”

Interestingly enough despite the current climate the report confirms “Indeed there is evidence that many people will give up, having had their representations rejected when in fact they have well founded grounds for contesting liability”. We say this is because the threat of the loosing of a 50% discount discourages motorists to pay up even when they know they should not have been issued with a PCN.

Finally the Chief Parking Adjudicator, Martin Wood was recently quoted as saying “There is nothing to gain from a situation which allows the state to impose a penalty on a citizen without the citizen being fully aware of the reasons for that penalty and having confidence that the fine is being imposed fairly, efficiently and effectively”.

Facts:

Fact:  Did you know that you usually have nothing to lose by writing into a local authority as soon as you receive a penalty charge notice (PCN). Nearly all local authorities will accept informal representations (also known as challenges) and hold the discount until 14 days after they reply to your letter. This is not part of the formal appeals process. Many penalty charge notices do not state this. (this does not necessarily always apply to CCTV issued parking fines).

Fact: Over 4.5 million Penalty Charge Notices (PCNS) issued in London alone during the Year 2008 – 2009 and an increasing number being issued by more and more local authorities across the country.

Fact: The number of PCNs issued nationwide has increased substantially every year as more and more local authorities take over decriminalised parking and moving traffic enforcement.

Fact: Over 140,000 vehicles clamped in London alone in the year 2003 – 2004! In the year 2007 – 2008 this had reduced to 48,753 in London - plus many more nationwide. Hopefully the amount of vehicles clamped will be reduced considerably from 2008 as new government guidance discourages clamping and some local authorities have already stopped it. We have always said how silly to clamp an illegally parked vehicle. It simply ensures that it remains illegally parked for longer.

Fact : Over 75,000 vehicles towed away in London alone in the year 2003 – 2004! In 2007 – 2008 this had increased to 87,770 in London -  plus many more nationwide. This should also be reduced considerably due to the new government guidance which was issued to local authorities in March 2008. Some councils have already stopped towing away vehicles. Although Camden in London stopped and have now started again.

Fact: The number of PCNs issued nationwide are set to increase dramatically particularly for moving traffic offences since local councils and Transport for London (TFL) are now using camera enforcement! You will not know that you have received a PCN until it arrives in the post up to 4 weeks later by which time you have forgotten the circumstances and are less likely to be able to appeal.

Fact:  Some parking attendants and parking contractors receive financial incentives based on the number of tickets issued or are set quotas with severe financial penalties if they do not meet them. This practice is now being discouraged but parking attendants that we speak to tell us about the pressure that they are under.

Fact:  Only around 1% of motorists issued with a PCN actually appeal to the Adjudicator! However around 60% of all appeals to the Adjudicator are successful. And in Westminster in central London around 90% of all appeals to the adjudicator were accepted in the year 2006/2007 and 82% in the year ending 2008. 73% of the appeals allowed in the year ending 2008 in Westminster were not even contested by them.

Fact:  Around 20% of all PCNs issued by London boroughs are cancelled by them upon representation. That’s over one million PCN’s in London alone and many more nationwide.

Fact:  Many motorists simply pay because they do not know on what grounds they could actually appeal or worse still they just can’t be bothered. On this site you will find details of pretty much every known way to have your PCN cancelled.

Fact:  Some PCNs are issued fraudulently, thousands are issued for silly technical breaches of regulations and thousands to motorists confused by poor or non existent signage or lines. Westminster council has continued to issue hundreds of thousands of parking tickets on their yellow lines after it was brought to their attention that they were unenforceable.

INFORMATION THAT YOU WILL FIND ON OUR WEBSITE

1.  Constantly updated information on all parking and moving traffic contraventions nationwide on an easy to navigate site of extensive pages.

2.  Information on how and on what basis to appeal if you have been issued with a Penalty Charge Notice, a clamp or if your vehicle has been towed away. From our extensive experience of over twelve years of continued correspondence and lobbying of local authorities, the Department of Transport, Transport for London, the Royal Parks etc. We will tell you the rules and regulations and some little known ways of having your PCN cancelled.

3.  Help line via email. info@penaltychargenotice.co.uk charge of £9.95 applies. Pay at the donate page. 

4.  Downloadable material and photographs which may assist you with an appeal.

5.  The site is regularly updated with news/stories.

6.  We will tell you about some tactics used by unscrupulous parking wardens to fraudulently issue tickets.

7.  An informative and popular Questions and Answers section.

A few of our successes

Some of our successes include assisting motorists when we pointed out to the London Evening Standard that Westminster council were issuing tickets on New Year’s Day 2006 to thousands of motorists. Westminster said that New Year’s Day was not a public holiday because it happened to be a Saturday! We pointed out that their own Leisure Centres and Libraries were closed on New Year’s Day 2006 “because it was a public holiday”! Westminster then agreed to cancel 3,750 PCNs and to refund parking charges, tow away and clamping fees.

Another one of our successes is the unacceptable situation around Lord’s Cricket Ground where when matches were being played discreet little road side signs would pop open on a Sunday. Many of the signs were illegible and were facing the wrong direction and subsequently hundreds of motorists have been ticketed. Again Westminster council were unrepentant so we lobbied the Marylebone Cricket Club and the Metropolitan Police who advised Westminster that they no longer wished them to continue to enforce single yellow lines around Lords when matches were being played. Despite this they continued to enforce single yellow lines for 2 weeks in July 2005. Thanks to efforts by us they agreed to contact motorists and refund them. In late 2007 the signage on the single yellow lines was removed and they are now no longer enforced on weekends.

We are currently pursuing Camden council about their continued enforcement of illegally marked bus lanes and yellow box junctions. We have even made a complaint to the metropolitan police about this.

Thanks solely to us Westminster Council stopped using moped based PA’s for parking enforcement in the daytime from April 2008.

By contributing you will allow us to continue to lobby on behalf of motorists at a time when the use of more and more camera enforcement is resulting in even more PCNs being issued for parking and moving traffic offences.

News

A recent application to the high court seeks a judicial review to question the validity of some penalty charge notices and the independence of the parking adjudication system itself. This would be a major case and if successful could be a major victory for the motorist. Neil Heron has mortgaged his house to fund the initial estimated cost of £60,000 for the lawyers and barristers fees.

Westminster council are enforcing dropped kerbs since February 2009. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this in principle Westminster have decided not to install double yellow lines at dropped kerbs that currently have single yellow lines. So a single yellow line allows motorists to park after 6.30 and all day on Sundays and yet when you do so you receive a ticket for a different offence. Their cabinet member for transport Danny Chalkley is unrepentant. We say this is entrapment.

We believe that Westminster council continued to issue penalty charge notices on single yellow lines in a zone which was ruled unlawful and unenforceable by an adjudicator in November 08. We believe this is illegal and when we have the evidence we will be contacting the police.

Westminster council are using CCTV enforcement for parking offences which is against statutory guidance issued to all local authorities in March 2008. Furthermore they initially didn’t even install any signs warning motorists which was illegal. Now in January 2009 they finally installed signs that are illegible and do not comply with the minimum sizes set down for such signs by the Department for Transport.

Westminster has stopped clamping and towing away. 

Local authorities nationwide are now enforcing moving traffic offences such as yellow box, ziz-zag lines, no turn and bus lane offences via cameras.

An independent study has concluded that the way that parking wardens currently issue PCNs in the UK is “heavy-handed, unscrupulous and inadequate”. The report by Birmingham University has revealed that in some areas Traffic Wardens work for an average of just 6 months before dismissal or resignation. It also said that the 2 week training that they receive fails to teach them when not to issue penalties.

The London Congestion Charge rose to £8.00 per day from £5.00 on 4th July 2005. Payments must be made on the day of travel before 10 pm or by midnight on the following day at £10. Various discounts are available for example motorists who pay for a year in advance receive 60 days free. We say that if the Congestion Charge is about reducing congestion and discouraging drivers to use their cars then it seems somewhat contradictory to charge motorists more who drive into the congestion charge zone most then motorists who use it less frequently. . We think that both congestion and pollution would be further reduced if transport for London did away with bendy buses and stopped running so many empty buses.

The zone was extended westwards from February 2007 to take in Kensington and Chelsea and most of Westminster. Residents in the new area receive a 90% discount and will be able to drive into the existing area therefore increasing congestion in the central area. However Boris Johnson, the London Mayor from 2008 has consulted and now agreed to abolish the western extension and this should be done by 2010. He also abolished Ken Livingstone’s plans to charge Gas Guzzlers £25 a day to drive into the zone.

From September 2006 the congestion charge ends at 6 pm instead of 6.30pm.

Westminster council will no longer enforce the offence of meter feeding but beware you must not exceed the total maximum time allowed at a meter or you may receive a PCN.

This section helps motorists avoid a Penalty Charge Notice (previously called a parking ticket) and gives advice on what to do if you are one of the millions who receive them each year. It provides a wealth of information on parking and moving traffic offences (contraventions) which are now being vigorously enforced nationwide with fines of up to £120. We will tell you the rules and regulations and how the appeal process works. You will discover many little known ways to have your Penalty charge notice (PCN) cancelled or your clamp or tow-away fee refunded. You will find our website easy to navigate and our contravention code feature allows you to instantly discover why you have been issued with a PCN and the specific grounds upon which you may have it cancelled. We will bring you up-to-date with the latest news stories and important parking adjudicator decisions which will help you fight your PCN. Many motorists and motoring organisations believe that some parking and moving traffic enforcement is more about revenue-raising than keeping the streets clear as local authorities can now keep the revenue which they raise. We share their view. We have campaigned for 12 years against unfair enforcement and along the way have discovered many interesting facts. We have been interviewed on television and the radio and are often quoted in the press. We have also lobbied MP’s and enforcing authorities and have been responsible for bringing details of injustices to the attention of the public through our constant freedom of information act requests. We have spoken at scrutiny panels of The London boroughs of Camden and Westminster and met with the enforcement department of Transport for London. We have also met with and offered advice to the shadow Roads minister. We deal with parking and moving traffic offences nationwide.

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