Council Car park Ticket Appeal

morrisoscar

Having had a little more time to consider the hearing I attended I would just like to encourage others who find themselves in a similar situation to go to appeal if they feel they have been unfairly penalised.

At the traffic penalty tribunal hearing appeal my wife and I were shown to a waiting area at a hotel were others were waiting for their turn to go into a side room, the three people before us all came out smiling.

When it was our turn we were shown into a room where the adjudicator was waiting, the council were represented on the telephone. It was quite formal but not uncomfortably so and the adjudicator just asked me to confirm I was the owner of the vehicle involved at the time of the alleged parking contravention, I confirmed I was and that I was also the driver at the time, he then asked me to tell him what happened on the day.When I had finish he asked the council if they agreed with my version of events which they did and the adjudicator confirmed that in his opinion what I had said concurred with my written appeal to the council.

The adjudicator then looked at the photograph of the pay and display machine I had supplied with my appeal letters to the council and the photographs the council had supplied of the machine and the notice board erected in the car park. He asked me if I had read the noticeboard at any time, I said I had when the parking attendant had shown me the board on the day.I said I told the warden the sign on the pay and display machine was set out in a different way and that I felt I had been misled by the different text layout of the sign on the pay and display machine, the adjudicator asked the council representative if the layout was different as the photograph the council had supplied of the notice board had not been taken close enough for him to be able to read the sign, they confirmed it was. He then asked me if the ticket had been issued before the parking attendant had shown me the noticeboard, I confirmed it had.

I then raised my others points of appeal which the adjudicator listened to and asked the council representative if what I had said was correct, he then gave his decision.

The reason for allowing the appeal was that it is incumbent upon the council to show that they had made it clear that I needed to pay, it was his opinion that they had failed to do that.

So it was not as intimidating as I had expected and for me most importantly I was listened to. It has taken a lot of my time but I would advise anybody else who finds themselves in a similar situation to stick with it.

morrisoscar

I have just received the adjudicators written judgement. The reason given is the alleged contravention did not occur as the sign on the pay and display machine fails to make it clear that payment must be made.This was my first point of appeal and none of the other points I raised are mentioned so no surprises there.

So the question is, now that the officers at Teignbridge District Council have a written judgment against them from the TPT will they do the the right thing and change the signs on all their pay and display machines, refund everybody who has been issued a ticket under the same circumstances or ignore the judgment as a one off made by an adjudicator outside their area and continue with the current signs and what must be a nice little earner.