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I was issued with a fised penalty notice for parking on a single yellow line.
The reason I was there was that I was loading a heavy item in my car, however this took longer than I thought but no more than 20 minutes. I have no documentation to prove this.
The ticket states that my vehicle was observed for a period of 10 minutes no more.
Is there any grounds for appeal?
Would I need to go to the magistrates court to appeal against this or can it initially be dealt with another body?
I was issued with a fised penalty notice for parking on a single yellow line.
The reason I was there was that I was loading a heavy item in my car, however this took longer than I thought but no more than 20 minutes. I have no documentation to prove this.
The ticket states that my vehicle was observed for a period of 10 minutes no more.
Is there any grounds for appeal?
Would I need to go to the magistrates court to appeal against this or can it initially be dealt with another body?
Right, this is a fixed penalty notice issued by the constabulary. None of the rules relating to PCNs applies - it is a criminal matter.
First things first. It is unlikely, but is the area in which you were parked operating a decriminalised parking regime whereby Council enforcement officers issue PCNs? If so, then your FPN is invalid as in such an area, the Police can only issue FPNs for obstruction (as far as parking matters go).
Assuming that the Police know what they are doing, and issued the FPN correctly, then we have to deal with the issue as presented. There is a detailed PATAS adjudication that lays out the detail of what is meant by loading. Unfortunately, PATAS decisions are not binding precedent on Magistrates' Courts, but presentation of the JANE PACKER FLOWERS case may give the Magistrates something to consider.
On a normal SYL. loading and unloading are permitted for as long as it takes, providing that the action is continuous. this does not mean that there has to be somebody at the vehicle continually loading it, but you can't take a half-hour break or the like.
For pcn's, Councils like to see evidence of loading - delivery notes, etc. As this is Magistrates' Court, any evidence that you adduce will be under oath and providing you are believable, will be accepted. If you have witnesses as to what you were doing, all the better. As this is a criminal matter, the burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the offence took place and that you were not loading. However, I would go back and photograph all signs and road markings and post the pictures here in order that we can take a view on their compliance - they might even state no loading! If the signage is not compliant, then the marking sare unenforcable.
One point of caution. As this is an FPN, you must take positive action to dispute it within 28 days of issue. if you do not, it will default to 'conviction' and the fixed penalty fine will be enforced as though handed down by the Bench.
In short, we can help and advice, but you need to do some research first.
The single yellow line contines around the corner at one end and ends at what I think is supposed to be double yellow lines, and runs into double yellow lines at the other end.
The photos are:
The line continuing around the bend
The end of the line around the bend
The other end of the line
The sign indicating restictive parking, I am happy that these have been placed at the start and end of the single yellow line.
Picture 1:
The line is, IMHO, sufficiently absent/degraded to cease to be a SYL (case law is Davies v Heatley)
Picture 2:
Heaven only knows what this is supposed to convey in law. I would assume that it is a SYL adjoining a DYL. However, it does not meet the requirements of RSRGD in any way shape or form. And those white lines are (presumably) and old parking bay; again, they serve to mislead.
Picture 3:
This simply restricts parking 0800 - 1800 hrs Monday to Saturday; outside those hours and all day Sunday, you can park there. There is no prohibition on loading in this sign.
In my view, since Magistrates are bound by the precedent of Davies v Heatley (unlike PATAS adjudicators would like to think), as long as you have evidence of loading/unloading, you have a slam dunk case for dismissal.
Fixed Penalty Notice - Suffolk Constabulary
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Originally Posted by Lifecoach100
