Advice Needed on Parking Fine – Overstay, Misleading Signage & IAS Rejection

Kat2018

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on a parking fine I received recently. Here's the situation:

• Date of alleged contravention: 27th November 2024.
• PCN posted: 4th December 2024.
• Overstay details: Ticket purchased for 1 hour (£1), but the actual stay was 1 hour 45 minutes.

The car park in question used to be council-managed and free after 6pm. We assumed this was still the case but later discovered it is now managed by a private company (Carpark Securities). The signage was not well-lit, and when we arrived, we thought we were complying by paying for an hour. We only later found out that the extra hour would have cost 40p, which we gladly would have paid to avoid this £100 fine.

We appealed the fine directly and then through the IAS, arguing that:

1. The signage wasn’t illuminated or clear.
2. It’s not clear the car park is no longer council-managed.
3. When you Google the car park (Cheetham street carpark rochdale), the council website still comes up as the first result and states the old terms (free after 6pm but you need to display a ticket). This misled us into thinking the old rules still applied.

Both appeals have been rejected, with the IAS essentially stating that the terms were clearly displayed and it was my responsibility to ensure compliance.

Carpark Securities, in their evidence, questioned: “If it was free, why did you buy a ticket?” I explained that this was because the information on the council website stated that you still needed to display a ticket. When using the machine, we were required to input our registration and make a payment, so we purchased one hour until 6pm as we believed this was the correct action.

We’ve tried to locate the landowner to complain but have had no success so far. We also contacted local businesses in the area for help, but it doesn’t seem like they can assist. I have submitted an FOI request to the council to confirm land ownership but haven’t received a reply yet.

Here are my questions:

1. Based on these circumstances, do we have a chance of successfully defending this in court?
2. Should we pay the £100 now to avoid further charges, or is ignoring it still an option?
3. Is there anything else we can do to strengthen our position?

I’ve read the Newbies thread and appreciate all the advice there, but this situation seems a bit different as we can’t find the landowner and the council website is still misleading.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Coupon-mad

1. Yes.
2. NO PAYING
3. Search the forum for posts by me including these keywords

Confidently ignore stance 6 years

fisherjim

It isn't a "fine" it's a charge or invoice.

If you are going to quote the council website be careful about being selective in what you quote it could return and bite you back:

Charges

You'll need to check the tariff board on the day for the most up to date prices and conditions.

https://www.rochdale.gov.uk/directory-record/829/cheetham-street-central-parking-rochdale

This report however states that Cheetham Street car park is no longer managed by Rochdale Borough Council since 2012 however  did they rescind the TRO if not it isn't relevant land:

https://democracy.rochdale.gov.uk/documents/s14115/Annual Parking Report 11 12.pdf

The last traffic order revision:

https://tro.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/TRO/Rochdale/RE07.pdf

The council don't seem to know if they are on their Rse or their elbow!