I never can understand why the penalty fare should be increased as a result of a rejected appeal! A fine is there to punish people for breaking rules. In a court of law a person wouldn't get a heftier sentence if he pleads guilty on his fifth hearing rather than at his first! Why increase the penalty? The cynic in me says it is because councils want to discourage people from making appeals, regardless of the legitimacy of their claims. Some of my friends have paid fines in London straight away because they aren't sure their grounds for appeal are strong enough - similar cases to mine - they don't want to risk getting the penalty doubled, or even quadrupled. I am just hoping my appeal will be accepted. I wish I could tell the future though - whilst I'd like to say I would still appeal out of principle I'm not so eager that I want to spend a further £150 on top of my £3 parking fee! Wish me luck... I'm feel I need it!

Thanks for all your replies. I took a look at the Key Cases you suggested bribri. I cannot believe how unfair the decisions in that case were! The cases I read only confirm my view that parking/speeding fines are being abused by councils who only wish to increase revenue. This isn't about me saying the PCNs shouldn't have been issued, just that I would like for the Council to accept my claim that I did pay (what I regard as being a very expensive fee) for parking for 3 hours. I can't believe they can fine me for an offence which I didn't commit! I can't believe I didn't receive an apology from them as soon as sending in my voucher.... The evidence I have is my voucher, my word and the witness of my friend who actually lent me some change for the machine. Do you think it is unwise for me to say that I have a friend who was witness to me buying a ticket on that day in case they think I am simply sending in a copy of her ticket? In a world where nobody trusts you, it becomes difficult to know which part of the story to tell...

Also... I was with a friend that evening (also parked in the same car park). She witnessed me purchasing the ticket (she even had to lend me £1 towards the voucher). Do you think I should mention this in my letter? Many thanks!!!

Representation to the Council of the London Borough of Merton To Whom It May Concern: Re: PCN No. XXXX I am writing with regards to the above parking ticket, which was placed on my vehicle on the 27th of October 2006 at 18.35pm. I wish to make a representation to the council to formally appeal against this ticket. Your letter of 9th November 2006 states “Motorists have a responsibility to both obtain pay & display ticket and display it correctly in their vehicle so that the Parking Attendant can see the details.” I refute the allegation of not clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket or voucher in the Broadway car park. As set out in my previous letter to you (30th October 2006) I did purchase and subsequently display a voucher in the vehicle as required by the Order - please see copy of voucher enclosed. This voucher covers the parking period when the Penalty Charge Notice was issued. When leaving my vehicle, I took the responsibility of checking my voucher was displayed on my windscreen so that the Parking Attendant could see the details. The voucher produced by the ticket machine in the Broadway car park is of a flimsy nature, without adequate self-adhesive. The evening of the 27th of October was cold, and on returning to my vehicle at around 19.30 hours, I noticed my voucher had fallen to the floor of my car where it could no longer be clearly seen. I re-fixed the voucher to my windscreen using the sticker on the back, only to discover it fell down again within only a few minutes. I would be grateful if you would consider exercising your goodwill and understanding over this matter and cancel the Penalty Charge Notice. I look forward to hearing from you. Could some of you please read this and let me know if you think it is a suitable response to a Notice to Owner? I really don't want to have to fork out £80 for something that wasn't even my fault!! Many thanks. I am so glad I found this site.

Thanks for your response dx100uk. I will certainly send in another letter. My father told me I shouldn't have mentioned that it fell to the floor but I already did in my original letter so I can't retract that now. Plus it is the truth! Sometimes I really hate being in London - a similar thing happened to me in the North of England and it was simply enough to call the office, then send in a copy of the ticket. In London there is no trust. Why should I have to prove that I bought and correctly displayed a ticket? Shouldn't it be the job of the parking wardens to prove I didn't have one? Grrrr... Maybe I will draft a letter and post it here so I can get some comments before posting it? Thanks, V.

I have been issued a parking ticket by 'Merton Parking Services' in October 2006 for parking in a pay and display without clearly displaying a valid pay & display voucher. I've been very unlucky because I actually followed the insructions given on the parking voucher - ie. used the sticker on the back to fix the voucher to the windscreen ( I wish I had just left it on my dashboard like I normally do ) and in the time between leaving my car ( I double-checked it was visible from the outside because I know how strict traffic wardens in London can be) and the time I returned, the ticket had fallen to the floor. I wrote a letter to the council stating what had happened and enclosed a photocopy of my voucher and ticket. They wrote back with the following comments: "Motorists have a responsibility to both obtain pay & display ticket and display it correctly in the vehicle so that the Parking Attendant can see the details. The subsequent production of pay & display ticket after a penalty charge notice has been served cannot be accepted that one was correctly displayed in the vehicle at the time that the notice was issued" I don't know what I can do. I haven't paid up because I think it's unfair and now I have received a 'Notice to Owner' for £80.00. I want to make a representation to the council but I desperately need advice. Has anyone else had a similar case and found success? You know, it was a very cold night when the ticket was issued and I stuck the ticket to the windscreen when I returned to my car to drive home. In less than a minute it fell again - surely, it's the responsibility of parking services to provide good quality tickets to avoid motorists receiving unfair tickets? If I could afford £40/£80 I would pay up and save myself the bother, but unfortunately I don't have money to throw away! Please help me.... !!!