PCN parking ina bay that was while I was on holiday - ** CANCELLED **

[Ethel Street]

I couldn't find anything on here about this and wonder whether there are any rules for how much notice a council must give when they suspend a parking bay for roadworks.

 

I got back from holiday yesterday to find my car had been moved by the council (or its contractors) and had a council PCN [put on it by a council CEO] for contravention code 21, 'parking in a suspended bay or space'. It appears that while I was away on holiday the council resurfaced the road and suspended all the bays in it, including the one outside my house where I had left my car. AFAIK this was scheduled road manintenance not because of any emergency.

 

A letter from the council was put though all doors telling residents that the works were to take place and bays would be suspended, but it wasn't put through my door until after I had left to go on holiday so I didn't see it until I got back. The letter is dated May 13th (the day I went on holiday) but I don't know if that's the day it was put through the letterbox. The PCN is dated 22nd May so presumably that's the day they did the resurfacing.

 

I'll check with neighbours whether they also put 'Bay suspended' signs up in the street, there weren't any when I went on holiday and any signs had been removed by the time I returned yesterday. The council usually puts signs up promptly when a bay is to be suspended so I'm assuming there were signs up at some stage, but of course I wasn't here to see those either.

 

Is this sufficient notice? 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Ethel Street

[brassnecked]

You could contact the council and tell them you were away on holiday throught the notification period, and works, and go through their appeals procedure as a first step. Also involve your local council member, other neighbours may also have had a PCN.

Did they tow the car to a pound, or move it to another bay?

[Jamberson]

I think it's three days prior, for the sign to go up.

 

In general, they will photograph the vehicles in the bay when the signs go up - if you weren't there then, but were when the suspension came in, they would tow the vehicle to the pound, on the basis that you parked after the signs.

 

If you were there beforehand, they just relocate it - so this indicates to me that they know your vehicle was there before the signs.

 

The PCN is issued as a processing necessity. I would expect you to have it cancelled if you write a short, polite letter explaining when you parked, and that you went away etc.

[Michael Browne]

6 minutes ago, Jamberson said:

The PCN is issued as a processing necessity. I would expect you to have it cancelled if you write a short, polite letter explaining when you parked, and that you went away etc.

+ include doc. evidence of your holiday such as booking confirmation, plane tickets etc.

[Ethel Street]

1 hour ago, Jamberson said:

In general, they will photograph the vehicles in the bay when the signs go up - if you weren't there then, but were when the suspension came in, they would tow the vehicle to the pound, on the basis that you parked after the signs.

 

If you were there beforehand, they just relocate it - so this indicates to me that they know your vehicle was there before the signs.

 

Thanks. I'm going to write and do that. They hadn't taken my car to the pound, just moved it to the next street. I'm in London and they'd registered it on the London TRACE service, which told me immediately where they had put it.

[Ethel Street]

UPDATE: PCN cancelled.

 

I followed the advice on here, wrote to council including evidence of holiday. Got  a letter back today from council  saying that my registration number had been recorded as being present in the bay when the 'bay suspended' signs were put up so they were cancelling the PCN and apologising for the inconvenience! Jamberson was spot on.

 

Thanks to all those who replied.

 

It did make me wonder how many other people who didn't come to CAG or other advice sites would just have paid it, thinking there wasn't much point in complaining.

Edited June 11, 2019 by Ethel Street

[honeybee13]

That's great news, Ethel, well done. Well done to Jamberson too.

 

I'll amend your thread title.

 

HB

[ericsbrother]

well done.

some councils are quick to see sense, others will fight to the bitter end when they know they are likely to lose at a formal appeal anyway.

Croydon, Barnet and Hillingdon are amongst the worst culprits and probably because they make the most money from parking and traffic enforcement.

My old council didnt even have any traffic wardens for the first 10 years I lived there and after that it was a couple of people coming round from the next borough to enforce after the Govt stepped in so it is about money and not keeping the roads moving

[brassnecked]

Great stuff a council saw sense.  My Council would waste money on taking a case to court that they knew they would lose.

[Jamberson]

There's no option on taking a PCN to court. It's not a criminal mater.

[brassnecked]

Thanks Jamberson, I meant send it to the bailiffs for enforcement. My Council will use court whenever it can if it is an option  they have had their knackers chopped by the ban on imprisonment for Council tax arrears.