Car Towed away on Sunday for Parking on Single Yellow in Controlled Parking Zone

adeelh1987

Hi all,

On Sunday 11th October I parked on a Single yellow line on Stainforth Road (St Mary’s Road End) at about 9:03 am and took the train from Walthamstow Central and went to work. I parked on the single yellow line assuming it’s a Sunday and they are free. My train was at 9:19 and I was only a few minutes’ walk away from the platform, so I had about 10 minutes in the car, whilst I was in the car I was looking on the LB Waltham Forest website to see if they had any information about parking on yellow lines on weekends, I didn't find anything. When I got out of the car I looked around for any signs, I could not see any to indicate that I could not park there, there was also no Blips painted on the kerb where I parked, so I assumed it was fine as there are no signs, no blips and it’s a yellow line on a Sunday morning.

However when I returned from work at 2pm I found that my car was not there, so I rang the police and they told me it’s been picked up and impounded and provided me with the telephone number of the company to call. So I called and they told me it’s been picked up because I was parked in a controlled zone on a yellow line and the timing of the controlled zone also applies to the yellow lines. This I did not know and how is someone meant to know this if there is no information anywhere?. Has I knew this I could have parked at my mother-in-law’s which is less than a minutes’ drive away where I had parked which the controlled zone is only Monday to Saturday.

Nethertheless I had to pay the ticket and the impound fee, totalling £265!!

Do I have any grounds for appealing this as there was no signage to tell someone that the timings on the yellow lines are the same as the controlled zone (or is this normal and I have never heard of it before)?.

I don’t live in the Walthamstow Area, I live in Chingford where there is no controlled zones.

Your help and expertise will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Adeel.

HappyMJ

There's always grounds for appeal even if you look as guilty as anything you can put forward your side of the story and hope you get a sympathetic response.

If you haven't already go back to the location and take pictures as you will need them.

Google Maps shows signs restricting parking between 10am and 9.30pm on a Sunday...are you sure you didn't see them?

ManxRed

Worth posting on the Council Tickets forum at Pepipoo. You've nothing to lose by appealing and the experts over there may spot some good grounds to include.

Be prepared to post redacted scans of all the paperwork.

Coupon-mad

Post here:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

Pretty much all towing and PCN fees 'can' potentially be refunded if you make a good argument and include convincing points about draconian measures/unfairness. Ask pepipoo forumites for guidance and take the appeal all the way, because there is a quote you can use from Caroline Sheppard the Lead Adjudicator when she reported to Parliament.

When I used to have time to post on that forum I can't remember one not being refunded in the end, including the PCN. And it's a no-brainer, you have NOTHING to lose. If you search pepipoo forum for the word 'no-brainer' spelt like that with a hyphen you will find HUNDREDS of previous towing threads with examples of how to argue it and Caroline Sheppard's useful words.

adeelh1987

Great. Many thanks all for your help.

HappyMJ: the sign's are for parking in the boxes in those zones, I was parked on the yellow lines outside the boxes.

Adeel.

Coupon-mad

Double yellows or single?

fisherjim

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Double yellows or single?

Says single in the title, Coupon.

HappyMJ

adeelh1987 wrote: »

Great. Many thanks all for your help.

HappyMJ: the sign's are for parking in the boxes in those zones, I was parked on the yellow lines outside the boxes.

Adeel.

The signs show a restricted parking area which covers the single yellow lines in the area as well.

Not saying anything bad about you and your problem...it's just that you just didn't know.

It's Parking Zone ME. Here's a map.... http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/Documents/ME%20(nw)%20Area%20Proposed.pdf

If you go the edges of the zones on Google Maps such as Church Hill Road you can see the sign which shows the restrictions that apply to the whole area of Zone ME. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5859084,-0.0122217,3a,75y,237.92h,83.84t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgsJTMguhKkuCzbY2SY892w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Coupon-mad

Yep - but as pepipoo posters know, the recommended appeal (a no-brainer as he's had to pay up front) isn't 'I didn't know/there were no signs' it is about the unfairness of this entire thing when a PCN on its own is sufficient to communicate the issue.

'Draconian' is a word used by the Lead Adjudicator herself about some Boroughs propensity to towaway first and think later. Councils don't seem to like the argument as they have a duty not to be over-zealous with towing and don't like their little game rumbled, so sometimes they cave in before adjudication but if not, then Caroline Sheppard's view is relevant for another adjudicator to see. Nowt to lose, OP.

adeelh1987

Thanks all for your response. I am on the Pepipoo forum with this as well.

The route i took in does not show that sign, if you look at the boundry map which HappyMJ also posted a link to http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/Documents/ME%20(nw)%20Area%20Proposed.pdf I came into the ME zone via The Drive (so this starts on the letter L in the words Walthamstow on the top right), if you look at the Board which is showing on Googlemap this shows as Monday-Saturday and not Monday to Saturday (times) and Sunday (times). I have attached a picture of this in the following link for ease. http://tinypic.com/r/5b8mlj/8

As thats the board i would have seen when entering the CPZ, would this be enough defence that the ticket was a bit over-excessive and so was the towing.

Thanks

Castle

According to this the controlled zone is only for Mon-Sat with the exception of the "Experimental Zone" http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/pages/services/roads-street-parking-zones.aspx