Advice please re ticket for no vehicle license at a railway station

redux

Neil_B wrote: »

It was for "Unauthorised parking in restricted areas".

Inspector noted OOD tax disc as an aside. All talk about VEL was pointless.

As most of us had figured out by now without even seeing the ticket, I suspect

mike1212 wrote: »

I was parked in the train car park in a normal space one of the 200 they have. It was parked in the lines not blocking in any other cars/vans. All i had was no tax on display. So to me it is VEL they are trying to charge me for.

There is an explanation on the left side which says the notice has been issued because your vehicle has been parked in a manner which contravenes ...

There is a tick in a box that says unauthorised parking in restricted area.

There is also advice on how to dispute your liability to a parking penalty, by writing in to a given address.

peter_the_piper

Hopefully all will be revealed soon as its beginning to look like a very carefully worded PPC scam. Photographs of the signs and any consequent paperwork will be enlightening, unfortunately all the talk of VEL has been a red herring and diverted attention from the real issue.

jkdd77

I'm not a lawyer, but I understand from another forum that train companies have no power to fine people for not having a valid tax disc; only the police/ DVLA have such a power.

It sounds to me like Merseyrail are 'trying it on' to order to falsely extort money from you. They are hoping that, by simply quoting "Byelaw 14". that, you will be scared into paying a fraudulent ticket.

I've read Bye-law 14, and it is quite clear, that:
you have not broken Bye-law 14 (1), (2i), (3), (4) or (5)

and you have not broken Bye-law 14 (2ii)
, unless signage clearly expressly forbade people from parking without a valid disc (and even this would be debateable).

If I were your position, and assuming you had indeed parked correctly, and with a valid ticket, I would save the cost of a stamp, and ignore the unenforceable invoice. Ignore everything after that unless it is court papers.

There is no point in "appealing", as all 'appeals' are automatically rejected- private profit-making train companies, like PPCs, are hardly going to
tell you that you don't need to pay them, costing their shareholders money.

If they take you to court, then they will certainly lose, as you have not broken any bye-laws, and have no liability to them; they will then have to pay your costs. Therefore, it is very unlikely that they will even try it.

jkdd77

As a further thought, why don't you contact the Citizens' Advice Bureau, or the Rail Passengers Council, to ask about the validity of this 'fine'? They know the laws better than me, and they should be able to give you a definitive answer.