Parking on the pavement in London

corners_2

I wonder if anyone could advise me please?

I seriously did not know it was illegal to park on the pavement in London. My husband has discovered this the hard way having received a postal PCN for 'Contravention 62 = Parked with one or more wheels on or over a footpath...'

Do there have to be street signs indicating this applies in London or are people expected to know? I now know it is 'accepted' in the rest of the UK to park on the pavement as long as it isn't blocked, but hadn't realised London was different.

If there is no raised kerb and the 'road' section of the street would not be wide enough to allow another vehicle to pass, there are no parking/loading bays and no signs, would it be acceptable to block the road to make a delivery? In trying to avoid doing so my husband parked half on the 'pavement' despite it being a wide paved area with two pairs of parallel lines running down it and no 'split' level.

I would add that my husband recently became a 'dedicated delivery' drive for a local [Leicester] delivery company, driving a W Caddy sized van. Clearly this PCN means he's lost money for this job, but we genuinely didn't know and are wondering whether to try an appeal.

I know ignorance is no defence, but there were no loading/waiting signs, nor did he see any signs about parking on the pavement. The road and pavement are the same level, in that there wasn't 'drop' to the kerb as you would usually find. In the CCTV image, there are no apparent signs about loading/unloading and deliveries, and he did look for any parking restrictions and found no signs to help. There weren't any signs or bays so he parked half on the pavement so as not to impede other vehicles passing.It is Brick Lane London E1, a one way street.

Has anyone any experience or advice for us. I'd like to appeal if possible but if it's a clear cut offence and little or no grounds for appeal [as I suspect] is it worth appealing on the grounds of having made an honest mistake and saying we are now fully aware of the parking restrictions? We can supply copies of the proof of delivery.

Any advice would be welcome

The_Slithy_Tove

No signs necessary concerning parking on the pavement in London. In fact, signs are needed if parking on the pavement is ALLOWED.

Anyway, best place for advice on how to appeal (it's always worth doing, as there are loads of procedural pitfalls the councils are forever falling into) is on Pepipoo's Council Parking Tickets & Clamping and Decriminalised Notices forum.

Guys_Dad

It appears that different councils in London have different rules on parking.

In general and I quote

"3.1 Parking restrictions which are applicable nationally or regionally
Parking on footways and verges
Unauthorised parking on footways and verges is banned throughout London unless specifically exempted by the Borough and appropriately signed. This ban is designated in Section 15 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act, 1974. "

pogofish

Laws/byelaws for London pavements are an arcane area of legal study all to themselves! Largely due to London needing to establish them long before many other parts of the country.

Coupon-mad

Take it to pepipoo forum, as already advised. Them's the experts on Council PCNs.

corners_2

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I have posted on Pepipoo

lofielectronic

corners wrote: »

I now know it is 'accepted' in the rest of the UK to park on the pavement as long as it isn't blocked

Is it? I always understood it was wrong to do? I know a lot of people do it (but then there are a lot of thoughtless and selfish people around) I know in some roads and areas there are so many cars now that people see it as the only option but I didn't realised it was seen as a normal, legal thing to do?

halibut2209

It is wrong. Highways Act of 1835 section 72

nigelbb

I have always regarded parking a car on the pavement as wrong as there is a general offence of causing an obstruction. The fact that there is a specific offence in London was news to me. It's obnoxious & antisocial to block the pavement so those with prams & wheelchairs cannot get past. Some driver seem to think it's OK if you leave the hazard warning lights on.

Johno100

nigelbb wrote: »

I have always regarded parking a car on the pavement as wrong as there is a general offence of causing an obstruction. The fact that there is a specific offence in London was news to me. It's obnoxious & antisocial to block the pavement so those with prams & wheelchairs cannot get past. Some driver seem to think it's OK if you leave the hazard warning lights on.

But you seem to be making the rather large assumption that parking partly (or even wholly) on the pavement equals causing an obstruction, that is not necessarily the case. In many areas the police and local council enforcement quite rightly take a pragmatic view of pavement parking vs the free passage of vehicles down the street. Something it seems that the blanket ban in London does not seem to allow for.

nigelbb

Johno100 wrote: »

But you seem to be making the rather large assumption that parking partly (or even wholly) on the pavement equals causing an obstruction, that is not necessarily the case.

My actual words were "It's obnoxious & antisocial to block the pavement so those with prams & wheelchairs cannot get past.". If the parked vehicle isn't causing an obstruction then it's not a problem. However I have rarely seen a car parked on the pavement that isn't causing an obstruction unless it's a vastly wider than usual pavement.