Hi All,

In desperate need of some help and advice!

I arrived to my car this morning to be greeted by 3 PCNs.

The back story is that I parked my car on Thursday evening at the back of my permit bay and did not realise that the back wheel was outside of the bay and on a single yellow line. I then left London and did not return until this morning.

As far as I can see there are no notices or signage detailing the hours for the single yellow line.

The times of the parking tickets are 09.58 on Friday, 08.48 on Saturday and 08.47 on Monday morning.

It seems unfair that I am being charged 3 times for the same offence (if it is an offence as there are no guidelines on the single yellow line).

Has anyone encountered a similar issue before - I need to appeal as I am not in the position to fork out £195

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Shauna

Inside a controlled parking zone (which it sounds like this is) there is an underlying restriction, stated on the entrance signs to the zone (say, 8am - 6pm). An unsigned single yellow line inside such a zone is subject to that underlying retsriction and does not necessarily need its own sign.

That said, you could ask the council for a copy of the Traffic Order for that location, which describes what the restriction should actually be, and check that it is meant to be that way and not a case of a line missing an additional sign.

If you don't get anywhere with that, you can appeal the second and third ones on the single contravention principle. It is generally an accepted principle that only the first one should be enforced.

I have checked the entrance to the road and there is a controlled zone stating 8.30 - 6pm. I will request a traffic order also though - does this have to be done through email in my formal appeal?

Also, there are no pictures attached to my tickets, which i feel would help my case as you could see multiple tickets at one time is there a way of requesting this also?

Many thanks!

No - don't request the traffic order with the appeal - get it beforehand. Ask for it as soon as possible, as the contents will affect what you say in the appeal. It should specify the 8.30-6pm restriction on that yellow line - if it says something else, then the yellow line would need its own time plate and would therefore be unenforceable without one.

Don't mention the PCN or anything when you request the traffic order - they are likely to interpret anything like that as an appeal in itself and then send you a rejection letter - really, this happens all the time.

You could also ask for the images if you want. It's not too important because whatever evidence they have will not conflict with your account. They probably have photos and notes of the tyre valve positions, proving the car was not moved during the period.

I would appeal on the grounds that you have a permit to park in that street and parked in a bay. If they then reject on the grounds that a part of the vehicle was outside the bay then its the wrong contravention, it should be 'not parked correctly within the markings of a bay'. Its obvious that you have a permit so selecting the yellow line contravention (which is double the penalty of a 'out of bay') is wrong as Councils keep telling us.....its not about the money!