Any Advice gratefully received!

[lovely_lotty]

Hello!

 

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read and reply this question. I am new to this forum, so I apologise if I have posted in the wrong place. I looked through the other threads, but couldn't find any questions that were relevant, so apologies if this has been posted twice.

 

Basically, my dilemma is this. I live in Glasgow, and only recently started driving my car to work because of the MANY parking restrictions in place in the city. I work for a major coffee chain, and constantly am chatting to customers, and learn a lot of useless information. About a month ago, I got chatting to some traffic wardens, and they told me about the many places you can park in the city, due to 'loopholes' in the council's signage. They reeled off several places, and said it would be fine to park there, because the council couldn't afford to replace the signage that was missing, and to check around on a regular basis just in case something changed, but it should be fine.

 

So I have been parking my car for the past month in one of these areas, and have never had any problems. However, when I left work today, I discovered my car had been towed! I spoke with the parking attendant who was on the street, and he advised me that the council had only just put up the signage, as they were under pressure from local businesses to do so.

 

The place in question is a small stretch of road with double yellow lines at either end, and a single yellow line in the middle of those lines. The accompanying sign was missing, which is what created the loophole. The bizarre thing was that I had parked there yesterday, and there was no sign. I had parked at 5am, and returned to my car at 5pm, and received no notices/fines etc. Today, I parked there again at 5am, and looked around and didn't notice any signs (although it was early, and I was very tired). Is it possible that they put up the sign after I parked there, and then ticketed me, and if so, is that legal? Also, how long after you have been issued with a penalty notice can you be towed?

 

A colleague ironically parked in the space I had been in, and when I went to collect my car, saw that she had been given a parking ticket. She had been at work for over an hour, and hadn't been towed. Is it worth me appealing this, or should I just accept it? I figure that I have nothing to lose. Any advice or wisdom that you can offer is gratefully received! Also, I know I was a bit of a moron for parking there in the first place, so I'm annoyed at myself more than anything, but it does seem a bit ridiculous that they could ticket me for a sign that existed after I parked there! If that is the case, how can I prove that?

[Jamberson]

Yes, it's legal to put the sign up then ticket you.

 

How long after a PCN can you be towed? Any time.

 

To be honest I don't think you have much of a case. You were exploiting a loophole, and you got caught out. You have a right of appeal but beyond that I can't see the council has done anything beyond due process.