PCN Grace period

[feeblemind]

I hope someone can give me some advice on a PCN (Road Traffic Act 1991 - (as Amended) received in Edinburgh.

 

I am a permit holder and was parked in a pay and display bay in the S2 zone. The Edinburgh district council website says that I may park there for free up to 9am. (Please see 'Can I park free of charge in pay and display bays with my permit?') here -

 

The City of Edinburgh Council - Outer North and South Zones (Extended - Frequently Asked Questions

 

The ticket that I received had the offence time recorded as 0901 on the outside envelope. The PCN has 2 times on it however - From 08:55:49 To 09:01:06.

 

Does this indicate that the ticket was started at 08:55:49 while I was still permited to be parked in the bay for free? I appealed the ticket by email on the day of receipt and this has been rejected. Should I now just wait for the Notice to owner form or do something else?

 

If the 09:01:06 time is the offical time should I be able to appeal that I was not given a Grace period?

 

Thanks for any and all advice.

 

feeblemind

[feeblemind]

I should have mentioned that the offence code was 06P.

[Jamberson]

Without seeing the PCN I am guessing that the 08:55 to 09:01 is the observation time, which means the parking attendant observed the vehicle during those minutes. I think it's irrelevant to the actual issuing of the PCN.

 

I don't believe there is a grace period in such situations - why would there be? If you are supposed to vacate the bay by 9:00, then that means 9:00 rather than 9:02 or 9:05 or whatever.

 

What was the basis of your appeal? Best line would probably be mitigating circumstances if there are any.

[feeblemind]

Thanks for the reply Jamberson.

 

I appealed on the grounds that Edinburgh has a grace period of 5 minutes for failure to display a pay and display ticket:

The City of Edinburgh Council - Frequently Asked Questions about Parking in Edinburgh

 

Why should the PA have been observing my car prior to 9:00 if it was not at that time causing an offence? It was my assumption, and I may be incorrect, that the 2 times on the PCN were to show that a grace period had been given.

 

If the 09:01 time is correct then why should I not be entitled to the grace period indicated in the link above?

 

feeblemind

[crem]

If he observed your car at 8:55 and saw it to be legally parked, why did he continue to observe it until 9:01 when it became a contravention?

 

Surely you can appeal on a de minimus defence, i.e. the accuracy of your clock against the acuracy of their times should allow for more than a 1 minute descrepancy before issuing a PCN.

[feeblemind]

I suppose there are several questions I'm hoping might be answered by the Caggers.

 

1. Can the process of writting out a ticket start before the vehicle/driver committed the parking offence? My ticket states the vehicle was seen From 08:55 To 09:01 - so what if it was legally parked up until 09:00. Therefore is my PCN valid?

 

2. As I have already appealed and been rejected should I take it further on the grounds that the stated grace period does not seem to have been given to me?

 

3. If I take it further is the £60 PCN charge as bad as it can get?

 

I personally feel that £60 for a 1 minute and 6 second (the PA was still there photographing the car when I arrived to move it) difference in watch times is rather harsh!

 

If it can get no worse I'm inclined to take it further and not bail out for the £30 prompt payment reduction on a matter of principal.

 

crem thanks for replying, I was in the middle of this post when your's came through so thought I would post anyway.

[Jamberson]

1. Yes, although not literally "writing out". But it's not unusual for legally parked vehicles to be logged and a time registered for reference later on. A typical example is a free parking, limited time bay, where a legally parked vehicle is recorded and a PCN issued when it is later found in contravention. This is similar to what happened to you.

 

2. That's a matter of judgement, but I would say it's less likely to succeed than fail. It's an interesting case though. Maybe you could argue that you were doing something else and went to the machine at 9:00 - this doesn't seem unreasonable to me, but there's no knowing for sure whether they would accept this.

 

3. Yes, provided you either pay at that point or refer the case to an adjudicator for a hearing. (Which might be a good move since your case definitely has some merit.) Whichever route you take, you won't be more than £60 out of pocket if you lose.

 

Best of luck. I'd be interested in hearing the outcome of this case.

[feeblemind]

Thanks for the replies Jamberson and Crem

 

I will take it to the ajudicator and let you know the outcome.