Penalty Charge Notice - Rochdale Council - East View Car Park, Middleton - Failure to display ticket

motor1990

Hi All,

I received a parking fine on 30/03/24 for not displaying a valid ticket in a pay and display car park (which is free from 0-3 hours).  I entered the car park by following the Sat Nav via an entrance that I am now aware is an exit.  There aren't any no-entry signs, and there was a car in front of me doing the same thing so I didn't see the arrow on the road pointing out.  See photo of the route in that I took:

At this location in the car park, there was no rules board or ticket machine.  I exited on foot via this same route, and wasn't met with any signs.  I came back on foot from the other side of the car park, and it was at this point I noticed the rules board and machine, and then noticed a ticket on my car. 
See photo of machine and rules board: 

See photo of parking ticket, front and back: 

[Image removed by Forum Team]

[Image removed by Forum Team] 

Please see below link to image showing my route in, and circled where I parked.  The X shows where the ticket machine and rules board is, and the other circle is where a very small "Pay and Display" sign was located: 

See another image from street view showing where I parked, and that the ticket machine and rules board wasn't obvious.  

On StreetView in 2015, there was a sign stating "have you paid and displayed?" at this exit.  See photo:

 - this photo also clearly shows the exit I took which has no signs to suggest I needed to display a ticket in this car park.  This "have you paid and displayed?" sign is no longer there, see photo 

I logged the first stage appeal based on the signage being unclear, and that there used to be a sign on exit reminding people which is now no longer there.  Am I correct in thinking that if this sign used to be there, it was part of the design and deemed important for compliance?  Now it is no longer there, it isn't compliant to the original plans/design?

The council rejected my claim within 1 day, see below photos of the rejection notice:

[Image removed by Forum Team]

I have until Friday (3 days) to pay this fine at the reduced rate, however I would like to hear some experienced advice as to whether I should fight this case or not.  I feel the signage was so unclear that I was fooled into thinking I didn't need a ticket.  

Many thanks,
RD

Umkomaas

As we major on private parking tickets here, Free Traffic Legal Advice (FTLA) forum will be your best bet for council tickets. Register there but please note that a Hotmail address may not work - try using a throwaway Gmail account instead if you do have trouble registering, and post a new thread; here's your link:

https://www.ftla.uk/index.php?board=3.0

Read the sticky 'Read this first before posting your case' as well as reading through some of the other threads there ahead of posting your own details, to get the hang of what information they need from you in your opening post - but as a minimum you will need to post redacted photos/scans of all correspondence you've received from the council (both sides, if appropriate), as they need to see all the small print.