Advice needed on appealing parking ticket

der_kaiser

Good afternoon guys

I’m after some advice to help me consider what next steps to take regarding appealing a parking ticket issued by my local council. I have already submitted an appeal, and on Wednesday this week I received the council’s response confirming it had been rejected. The basis of my appeal is:
• I believe I was parked in a parking space
• The council have disputed this and say I was parked on the pavement
• I have claimed the alleged contravention didn’t occur, and sent in photos to support my case

I was going to post a link from google street view and one from my local newspaper to help to show you all, but as a new poster I can't post links :mad:

In their response to my appeal the council said:

In line with the Council’s pavement parking policy the penalty charge notice was correctly issued. I can confirm your vehicle was not parked within a marked bay indicated by a white either side of the vehicle on the car park, your vehicle was parked on the pavement obstructing access for pedestrians, pushchairs and wheelchair users. The waiting restrictions are indicated by yellow lines, which are enforced from the carriageway, pavement and verge and as your vehicle was parked on the pavement these restrictions apply.


So their argument seems to hinge on the fact that there isn’t a white line marked down the right hand side of the car, which I think is a pretty snidey tactic to say the least. Suffice it to say I am pretty fed up, particularly after having read an article in my local newspaper which describes someone else getting caught out in similar circumstances in 2011. At the time the council said they would revisit the area and consider making changes to the signage / markings if necessary.

So with all of this in mind, I want to work out whether I
a) am bang to rights and should have known better, in which case I swallow my pride and pay the ticket, or
b) have been stitched up by some pretty poor road markings, which is made even more galling by the fact that the council said in 2011 that they would visit the area and clarify whether any part of the car park is within the adopted highway, and then if necessary consider ways to make this more clear

I’m conscious that at the moment I’m so annoyed :mad: I may make the wrong move, so I thought I’d put it out to my fellow MSE’s and see what the court of opinion thinks. Many thanks in advance for your help guys !

bondy_lad

i think you will be advised to post on pepipoo,but wait till a more experienced forum user comes along, either way, good luck.

der_kaiser

Thanks bondy lad. I'd considered pepipoo but thought I would try here first because I'd used the MSE guide when I drafted my appeal. I'm going to wait until I can post some links and then edit my original post because it's much easier to see what I'm talking about when you can actually see the parking space I'm referring to.

Orford

Post the links without the http: bit

der_kaiser

Orford wrote: »

Post the links without the http: bit

Doh, it's easy when you know how. OK here are the links, the first one is to a google street view image of the parking space in question. You can see a grey Saab in a space, this is the space I was parked in:

maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=fletcher+street+little+lever&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x487ba5e0ab5a5721:0x5f4b6f116729f68f,Fletcher+St,+Little+Lever+BL3&gl=uk&ei=Sm75UOXrHoid0QW9qoH4DA&ved=0CC0Q8gEwAA

The next one is a link to an article in my local newspaper:

theboltonnews.co.uk/news/districtnews/districtsttoz/9159760.Clear_up_village_car_park_confusion__council_urged/
If you don’t want to read all of the article it basically describes a similar incident with a motorist not parked in a marked space who got a ticket. The council then say they will revisit the area and consider making changes to the signage / markings if necessary.

Orford

http://goo.gl/maps/fK36l

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/districtnews/districtsttoz/9159760.Clear_up_village_car_park_confusion__counc%20il_urged/

spacey2012

You first have to understand how the appeal system works :
You make an appeal which is informal, almost always rejected out right:
They then issue a notice to owner: You make a formal appeal, usually again rejected as they have nothing to lose.
You then SHOULD receive a formal notice of rejection.
If You Do or Don't you then appeal to the http://www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/site/index.php
within the timelines.
You do not wait for them, you stick to the time lines.
Before I can comment I need some information:
The offence/ contravention Code and explanation.

I have viewed the street view and the guidelines do state a kerb forms the other line if required.
If this is not a parking bay, why does the cross line extend to the Kerb ?
I think this forms a parking space.
But for now the code.

The_Slithy_Tove

der_kaiser wrote: »

Thanks bondy lad. I'd considered pepipoo but thought I would try here first because I'd used the MSE guide when I drafted my appeal.

No offence to people here, but Pepipoo has a lot of expertise in fighting council tickets. Highly recommend you go there for further help.

fisherjim

It definitely looks like a parking space to me too, there is a line dividing the back to back parking spaces that goes right to the kerb in between the white van and the Saab.

The parking spaces further up the road in front of the white van finish shorter with a definite pathway visible.

There is also a pathway of sorts where the sign is in front of the Saab, in my view the council have messed up, I would take photos and appeal definitely.

der_kaiser

Thanks Spacey2012. I have received an email saying they have rejected my initial appeal, but I haven't received a Notice to Owner yet.

Thanks for the link to the appeal website, I will have a look at that just now.

The ticket I received from Bolton Council quotes contravention code 01, with the contravention being "Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours".

der_kaiser

Thanks to The Slithy Tothe and fisherjim too, I would thank you on your posts but I've already dished a few out so I can't do any more