Loading bay by day, taxi rank by night?

MartyByrde

Hello, thanks for reading.

I recently parked my vehicle in Church Street, Brighton (right outside the Brighton Dome, north-west corner, adjacent to New Road) in what I thought was a loading bay. I observed the white markings on the road, pulled into it, checked the signage from my vehicle and saw that the sign said that the loading bay was active from 6am-6pm. As the time was after 6pm, I exited my vehicle and went about my business. I came back an hour later only to find 2 traffic wardens issuing me with a ticket. I asked what the ticket was for, and they explained to me that the "loading bay" was a Taxi Rank from the hours of 6pm-6am, and pointed to the smaller sign "No waiting, 6pm-6am except taxis" above the Loading Bay sign, which I had completely missed. I was baffled, as I was certain I had parked legitimately, and in my 7 years of driving, I've never heard of a multi-purpose bay before. Not to mention I did not see any road markings indicating that the bay was a "taxi rank". Upon reviewing the evidence, I have seen that there is a single-yellow line that runs through the bay, which again, I had missed at the time because I was confident I was parked legitimately. It would also appear that on google maps, there are no markings on the road to indicate a loading bay (Loading Only).

Do I have a leg to stand on re appeals? I should also mention that the warden handed me the PCN personally, rather than placing it on my windscreen, so there's no photo evidence of the PCN on the car (my partner's, not mine although I was the driver). Does this provide any leverage?

Browntoa

No and no 

You parked there and failed to see the signage 

MartyByrde

Browntoa said:

No and no 

You parked there and failed to see the signage 

I never knew there was such a thing as a multi-purpose bay

Coupon-mad

Browntoa said:

No and no 

You parked there and failed to see the signage 

Not necessarily. This is Brighton (my home City of birth) and BHCC are crap at signs & lines in some places.

The OP should post in FTLA forum instead. That's where the Council PCN experts are.

There's nowhere free to park in New Road near the Dome. You could have parked in the little area north of Pool Valley bus station after 6pm (as you come off the seafront roundabout and swing left).

MartyByrde

Coupon-mad said:

Browntoa said:

No and no 

You parked there and failed to see the signage 

Not necessarily. This is Brighton (my home City of birth) and BHCC are crap at signs & lines in some places.

The OP should post in FTLA forum instead. That's where the Council PCN experts are.

There's nowhere free to park in New Road near the Dome. You could have parked in the little area north of Pool Valley bus station after 6pm (as you come off the seafront roundabout and swing left).

Well according to Google maps (pictures taken August 2024) there are no road markings indicating either a taxi rank or a loading bay. Browntoa said that I failed to see the signage, which is half true. I’d acknowledged the loading bay sign and according to that, I was in my right to park there, but obviously I missed the single yellow line and the accompanying sign above the loading bay sign. I might try an appeal by acknowledging that I am at fault and that it was genuinely an accident and see if that works.

But at this point I’m more curious about the multi-bay than anything. Is that a legitimate thing? Can you have a white marked box for parking/loading with a single yellow line through it? Does a taxi rank/loading bay need to have the relevant writing marked out on the road? Can you have two separate signs that govern one space? I feel like if anything, both of those signs should be rolled into one to avoid any confusion like in my case, and I do feel a bit like I’ve been lured into a trap, but if the space is legitimate I guess it’s a lesson learnt of nothing else.

Umkomaas

FTLA forum will be best placed to answer your questions. 

https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/