Penalty Charge Notice - council - advice please

[100mel]

I parked in a council run car park - pay and display - paid for ticket etc. I returned to car within time to find PCN slapped on car - my pay and display ticket (piece of paper, not self adhesive ) had dropped to the far corner of the windscreen and so the notice said that I had not displayed a valid ticket

I wrote to the council enclosing valid ticket etc - now they have written back saying they don't accept my letter. They have produced two cctv photos of a windscreen - these are totally indistinguishable - full of reflection and don't identify the windscreen as mine at all - there is another photo of rear of my car - correctly parked in bay

So - anyone out there - do I have grounds for appeal and how should I go about it? Charging me £30 when I had already paid for a valid ticket strikes me as council money making madness

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

There are a number of cases on fluttering tickets of which this is (IMHO) the most useful to you.

[100mel]

thanks for this - this is exactly the situation and seems to fit perfectly. What should I do now? - quote this information in a letter to council?

thanks

Mel

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

I'm assuming here that after 14 days the penalty goes up to £60 and after 28 days a notice to owner may be served on you.
If I'm correct has the first 14 days gone or are you prepared to risk the additional £30.
If yes to either I would write back and say:

Thank you for your letter of [dd/mmmm/yyyy] I note what you say, however, I refer you to the attached case previously determined by the National Parking Adjudication Service.
Should you pursue this PCN my appeal will be based on this case and any other matters that my investigations may identify as grounds for formal appeal.

You should note that the case cited is not binding but is persuasive.
You should also note that the council are not obliged to respond to you, however, if they do not then this gives you additional grounds to complain for not treating you fairly.
Feel free to scan and post both sides of the PCN so you can get additional advice on anything that may be wrong with it.