Poor Signage - single yellow line

Had a notice of rejection of challenge from a council.
My question is.. is there any point in taking it to appeal?

My argument was:

Parked on single yellow line because
1. there were cars parked the whole length of the road (with no tickets)
2. the signs I could see clearly stated 2 hours parking allowed


Came out of cafe to council PCN on windscreen.
Looked at the other cars. No tickets. ??
No blue badges, no-one loading.

I found a little yellow sign high on a telegraph pole, slightly faded and twisted. The signs I had read were for the other side of the road. (a lot of assumptions made by me, I know).

I know yellow lines are restricted
I know number 1 above means nothing, but because I read the signs and saw all the cars parked there, it seemed obvious that it was OK to park there for 2 hours (particularly if one is a bit divvy for various reasons). In my defense, it was also pouring with rain.:(

So, the only possible legal argument could be the positioning of the sign (one would have to be standing in the road to read it) and the size of the lettering - for busy roads the TRGDS state bigger lettering should be used).

What say you? Pointless and pay the smaller amount of £45?

Can attach pics if its not a clear cut "don't be silly".

Many thanks