Parking Ticket - very broken yellow line

Money_Man_Steve

It boils down to reasonableness:

The council have an obligation to keep signs and lines in a good state of repair, but on the other hand if there is only a small break in the line it may be unreasonable for a driver to claim that they wouldn't have known that a restriction applies.

If you could have been misled about the meaning of the line because it was so poor, then I reckon you'd have a good case, especially if the line had not been recently repainted and you had been parking there for ages without a problem. If on the other hand the line was good enough for a reasonable person to know that a restriction applied, you'd be on dodgy ground and it may be better to pay up.

The stuff in a previous post about court is irrelevant if this is a Penalty Charge Notice issued by a local Council - there is no right of court hearing but instead you can (after a certain stage) elect to have your case heard by an independent adjudicator. (The penalty would however then be at the full amount of £60.) The legislation under which the Council can issue these tickets has decriminalised these types of parking offences and it is therefore a civil matter, not one that can be dealt with in a magistrates' court.

Incidentally, T-bars at the end of yellow lines are not strictly necessary unless the line stops at an unrestricted part of the street.

Have a look at https://www.parkingandtrafficappeals.gov.uk and/or http://www.parking-appeals.gov.uk

derrick

Looks like they don`t even need the plate now for most double yellow lines

SEE HERE

mikey1980

My friend parked on duoble yellows and successfully appealed the ticket - there was a 'T bar' at the end. SHe had also heard th 'urban myth' that this meant that the double lines would be ineffecitive without this. However, the only support she could fine was on Watchdog's site - I think she used key words in the sedarch engine - she sent off the article with her appeal and she wasn't fined!!! Brilliant!!!

N9eav

Good luck on any appeal. But sound advice has to be... If you are in any doubt as to the parking restrictions in a place, then use a car park. It may cost a few quid and be outrageous in price, but the peace of mind must be worth it?

Mr_Warren_2

I got done in Edinburgh last Christmas by parking in a "resident only" reserved parking area just under the castle walls. Arrived there in a hurry, purchased the ticket and off we went.
I took photograph of the very broken yellow lines and very faint "residents only parking area" and sent the lot to the payment address. 10 days later I received confirmation that after a site inspection, they were in agreement with me etc...

So do not hesitate to challenge the issue. The worse case scenario is that you will have to pay the penalty. Remember that time stands still as soon as you have sent your letter to the relevant authorities, waiting for their reply.

From past experience, a well constructed letter and photogrsaphic proof has always worked well in my favour.