Like many others I too was issued a penalty notice for not being able to produce a valid ticket. I was travelling on National Express East Anglia and could not find my ticket. I explained to the 'officer' that I had bought a ticket. He informed me that he had to issue the penalty but I could appeal as long as I had proof of purchase. He was friendly and told me not to worry and that this sort of thing does happen (sympathy for a middle aged woman?) When I got home and went through everything I discovered that I had lost my ticket along with my oyster card but I did find my receipt and ticket number. I appealed on-line and put in all the ticket information. I was then written to on three different occasion by the IAS asking for proof of purchase. I duly did this each time and on the final occasion having received two letters with different references I photocopied the whole lot and send it registered post. I was then written to saying even though I provided what they had asked for and it was accepted as proof of payment it doesn't matter because I should have had the ticket at the time the inspector asked for it. Reading through oldcoj's quotes I understand about having to produce a valid ticket. Why then do they allow you to appeal and ask for proof of purchase if the appeal will never be granted? It seems to be a paper exercise and a waste of time and money. Is there anywhere to go from here?