Sad to know Martin's demise. Very hard to fill the space left by people like him who stand up for ordinary people's fight against the ills of the system. Name is fine. Martin

Thanks Michael and hhh_88873. I also suspected that I can be served by post otherwise council woudn't send it by post. But is unloading on single yellow line a reasonable ground to challenge the ticket. I am prepared to go to appeal process with PATA. And wheather a short observation time upto a minute will help my case.

I received a PCN which states this contravention- 'PARKED IN A RESTRICTED STREET DURING PRESCRIBED HOURS' There is no contravention code mentioned on PCN, would it be considered a technical defect to challange. Facts of case are- I stopped my car over a single yellow line to unload a TV to carry across the road over to LG service centre - total about 5 minutes. PCN says CEO observed the vehicle from 12:21 to 12:21 and had begun to prepare a PCN for service but driver drove away. The actual time, though is 12:51 to 12:56 when I saw the CEO, spoke to him and drove away. The LG receipt has a time stamp which shows 12:56. If CEO indeed observed the car at 12:21, he had ample time to prepare and serve the PCN on the car window. So do I have any/all of these grounds to challenge PCN- 1. Technical defect - no contravention code mentioned on PCN. 2. CEO only observed the car from 12:21 to 12:21 (i.e. zero to 59 seconds), which is insufficient time to observe unloading activity. 3. The wrong time of observation 12:21 instead of 12:51 4. CEO disregarded unloading activity and issued a PCN There are no pictures of the car with PCN, so not sure if CEO was able to take photos or not. Any help is highly appreciated. With the help of forum I had successfully challenged an earlier PCN.

Thanks Bernie and lamma, I did feel over the moon. Green and mean provided a counter view which helped me to bring out the best. I have scanned the PATAS letter here- http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/5324/parkingpatasletterchangyi1.jpg and my scanned appeal letter here- ImageShack - Hosting :: 63165872hh6.jpg ImageShack - Hosting :: 95907644yj9.jpg ImageShack - Hosting :: 28984332go2.jpg Hope my appeal letter helps someone in a similar situation and also looking for feedback/ critique as to what actually might have clinched it. Though I have still not worked out the mystry why Council pulled back from the case? My guess is that cost of fighting the tickets was perhaps more. Instead they could focus on issuing more tickets and collecting payments. That also bring up q if I should send thanks letter to Council for not contesting the case? I tried to do my bit by buying a pricey book from this useful site, in other better times would have done more. In the end it is all :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Breaking news!!! In today's post PATAS sent a letter that council has decided not to contest the appeal so I will not be charged at all and if I had paid anything that will be refunded. Will put more details here soon.

While filling the form for appeal to adjudicator, I am forced to select a ground for appeal. The 2 possible ones I think are- a) The contravention did not occur. b) There was a procedural impropriety on the part of Enforcement Authority. There is another ground ..penalty charge exceeded the amount applicable. Any suggestions which one to go for, I would think of a) though. Thanks again. I have prepared a long letter with annexures as evidence.

I missed the further posts as I expected alert on my email, which was the case before. I alone escorted child into station where mother was already present behind ticket barriers. I will go for Adjudicator appeal and keep updated here. £120 in this recession time has become even more to lose. Thanks for suggestion to use alighting/boarding exemption.

If I could quote past cases and decisions of adjudicator which have considered similar special circumstances, should help. Frankly, I was not even aware that unloading of only goods is allowed and not the people. I guess, I can't cite it as a point to be considered. I am a new driver and still learning the parking ropes. Technically green_and_mean possibly you are right and thanks for input.

This is the update on the case. I made my representation to the council against NTO in the following letter- http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/180/representationyj6.jpg But council duly rejected it- http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6619/uploadednoticeofrejectiyu9.jpg I will appeal against the Notice of Rejection. But essentially grounds for appeal would remain same (can't make up). Any ideas if I missed out something or can make my appeal more effective and better presented? Also, is personal attendance preferable to the postal appeal? Many thanks for any timely ideas, I still have 7 more days left to prepare.

thanks a million. Looks like there is some case to argue with. in the past, I was charged for overstaying for 1 minute or less and reached the car when TW was still issuing ticket. Letters were exchanged with council and they dragged on for months possibly to wear me out but ultimately cancelled the ticket (without me bringing up the child status). So in this case, hopefully I'd be on a stronger wicket. will update the progress as soon receive the Notice.

i will still argue with this point and hope for the best. if the case goes to Parking Adjudicator, would i lose early-payment discount of 50%

child being handed over to mother outside barrier from where both would travel in tube. the child in question has learning disability (has a legal statement from council) and needs extra assistance/observation than usual.

Unfortunately, dropping kids upto the platform showed no activity in the car and I was back within minutes. The issue is how to prove I was actually unloading my passengers. Also, should TW not have observed for longer, he did so only for 5 minutes. The loading is allowed there for 30 minutes. I have asked for Traffic Regulation Order to check validity of parking restrictions. Is there another way to challenge on technical grounds.

Thanks loads cr**** for your pvt msg.I have removed personal details from PCN and the edited one is here- http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/785/pcnun3.jpg

Did some r&d and hosted the images of penalty notice on a image hosting site imageshack- Penalty Notice image (just click it once on image hosting site to zoom): http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5290/img146wl4.jpg Penalty Notice cover: http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6756/img147md4.jpg restriction signboard: http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/4822/dsc007313copyqk5.jpg Hope someone has a eureka idea...

getting worried over my unpaid PCN now

since this is parking thread, there would be other forums where it is discussed

any opinions or past experiences on this?

may try to claim refund if you search other posts here

I'm on same boat too

Parked in a Loading Area outside tube station to quickly drop the child and got the ticket within 5 minutes for the reason "Parked in a loading place during restricted hours without loading". Desparate for any help to prove that ticket is technically unlawfully issued. Already ordered CAG labels to affix on my expected exchange of letters with council to appear as a knowledgeable. One loophole may be what I found on parking ticket - 'THE COVER STRIP IS REMOVED BY THE OFFICER' but it was not removed/pasted on windscreen just kept on bumper. Possibly, warden was in a hurry to quickly get away before I arrive. Not sure how I could attach my scanned ticket on the forum for expert comments.