Thanks for your kind offer G&M however I have decided to make the payment and try to forget about it just to avoid the hassle and stress, as I would hate to be forced to pay £100 even if the chance is relatively small - £50 I can just about live with! Thanks again - and keep up the good work!

Finally had a response to my last letter with my purchase invoices attached. They say that because the invoice dates don't match the date of the contravention, they have not accepted my informal appeal, and point out that parking on a single yellow line constitutes an immediate contravention. With this in mind, should I pay the £50 now, or formally appeal and lose the right to the 50% discount at the risk of having no evidence to present to the adjudicator that I was indeed unloading as it was personal goods during that particular minute? Also would a formal appeal require me to take time of work to attend a hearing or anything (i.e. if it does it's probably worth paying now and just being more careful in future?) I'm stumped trying to calculate a cost/benefit analysis. Any ideas please??

Any views on the letter received my Martin Lewis today: The private parking industry hits back? | Martin's Blog… In particular: "Your website as it stands takes the position that when you get a ticket you should always try and get out of it whereas it should acknowledge that most people who get tickets have actually parked unlawfully at the expense of others who have paid and complied with car park terms and conditions. Other parking appeal websites and people that use them are beginning to realise that the silent majority actually respect rules and regulations in car parks and on the street and don’t like “people getting away with it”." Quite amusing...

I can't imagine them having any solicitors - unless they found one that was particularly partial to losing a case or two...

Interesting, then, that absolutely nobody else is advising this...

Cool thanks for your comments - I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for your quick responses guys! Hi G&M - it is Barnet council. Why would they record different information in their notes than on the PCN and if they are inconsistent would this not invalidate the ticket (e.g. in the same vein as if they had the wrong date/model/offence/etc)? Hi Jamberson. This explanation would make sense if: a) They had observed the vehicle for >1min, and b) I hadn't already told them I was bringing personal goods from my work (for which there is therefore unlikely to be any documentary evidence). Neither of which are true.

but if I produced no documentary evidence at all then I would therefore have to formally appeal and lose the right to the reduced penalty. It just seems ridiculous to ask for something which clearly doesn't exist for what is quite obviously a ridiculous observation period. Does this mean I would need to go to court or something if they refuse to accept my supplied invoices?

Interesting to know - I stand corrected.

I am currently in the process of disputing a ticket for the same sort of situation. I was parked just round the corner from my house (off the busier road) on a single yellow line whist I unloaded a few things before I went to park the car in a legitimate space. The observation period was less than one minute (from 18:14 to 18:14). The parking restriction ends at 18:30. I sent a letter to explain this and again they say "this office cannot consider your enquiry without supporting documentary evidence. Please send proof in the form of an invoice, job sheet or delivery note showing exactly the good being loaded or unloaded at the time of the contravention. Like you as these were personal items, I would have given myself a delivery note or job sheet for doing this. I don't need this level of bureaucracy in my life whenever I do anything. I therefore sent the council what I could find of the original purchase invoices for the goods I was carrying to prove their existence, and offered to provide photos of them if they require it. I can't imagine what further evidence they could possibly be expecting. I also can't believe this query hasn't arisen more frequently on this site - I've been looking round for pretty much the whole of today. It all seems to be the same posts telling people not to pay private companies' parking "invoice" - which is invaluable advice for the future no doubt! Does anyone have any ideas other than finding some kind of witness as was suggested above?

As I understand it the parking dispensation for allowing passengers to get into and out of a vehicle is only valid where the driver of the vehicle remains within the car. There is no allowance made for children or those requiring assistance. This is to allow the traffic to remain free-flowing. I understand your frustration, particularly if there is no-where nearby without restriction to allow you to park and walk your children to their destination, however I would not expect your appeal to progress far in this case.

Unfortunately, you would be hard pressed to challenge this using the evidence presented on the Ealing website as this states quite clearly that this guidance applies to controlled bay parking (e.g. resident permit parking) only. Parking on any yellow lines where the controlled period indicates a Monday will also include Bank Holiday Monday (even though this may seem illogical since Bank holiday "traffic" is no-where near the levels of a regular Monday morning). I had to learn this lesson the hard way myself so I feel your pain! I would pay before the fine goes up and move on I'm afraid.