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PCN, then towed (on same day) for 1 day bay suspension
Ace2k7
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 17:27
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Hi All,

Really hoping someone can help draft a formal appeal as I am fuming.


I'll start by providing some context - maybe irrelevant but including regardless.

- I don't drive a lot, usually only on weekends, but sometimes only a few times a month.
- I usually park in an Estate Bay; however, this has been suspended for 6 months (and counting) for building works
- Given above, car was parked on the road with a valid road permit (Zone A6)
- The car is also registered with the local council a vehicle that carries a disabled passenger (i.e. the car is the primary mode of transport for a family member with a disability badge, though not displayed at the time)


So anyway, this morning my wife gave me a call at work this morning saying the car was "missing". Long story short, the TRACE website directed me to the local pound saying it had been towed. After calling them and giving them the registration, they initially told me they didn't have the car... when I pressed them quoting the TRACE website results, suddenly they "found" the car. Apparently, it had been towed on 16/05/18 (Today being 21/05/18).

As mentioned above, I don't drive a lot, and as its now parked on a road adjacent to where I live, its not visible unless I go looking for it - so hadn't realised car was missing. The car was last driven and parked (in the bay from where it was towed) on 14/05/18 (early AM). At this point, there were no suspension notices displayed.

Having looked at the photos from the council's website, it appears the bay was suspended for one day only; 16/05/18, for "filming".

Some quick research seems to indicate that a suspension notice should be placed with 5 days notice. Additionally, the NSL lady at the pound also said that 5 days notice should have been given. This seems to be supported by this: https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/transp..._dispensat.aspx

"We require at least seven working days to accommodate a bay suspension. This is in order to give residents enough notice to make alternative arrangements."

What they appear to have done is to suspend the bay with 1 days notice, then ticketed the car (12:35PM), and then I assume towed it within a few hours. I have no idea when they actually put the notice up, and none of what the council provided show this info. My assumption is it went up on 15/05/18 at the earliest as my missus checked the car on 15/05 AM and it was fine she says. Seriously angry at this behaviour, as a local resident the council have all my details, surely someone could have contacted me? You can also see in the photo the council provides there are many other cars parked in those bays, so my feeling is everyone basically got done.

I had to pay £425 to get the car released: £65 for the PCN, £200 towing fee, £160 storage fee (£40 p/day). I'm absolutely livid, and want to appeal, and hope there are some valid grounds that I can use. This seems to be very underhand behaviour to me.

Any help is appreciated. I've attached all the pics.

This post has been edited by Ace2k7: Mon, 21 May 2018 - 17:40
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post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 17:27
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stamfordman
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 17:47
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First calm down - a burst blood vessel won't help.

Nothing more to pay so appealing must be done.

My initial thoughts are that the council pics show a bay full of cars, and you don't appear to have a note of when the car was lifted.

Tower Hamlets is a very tow happy council and they could have relocated a resident's car, so there is proportionality.

Clearly ascertaining when the sign went up will also be crucial.

It's a shame the disabled badge wasn't displayed as they would have had to relocate it not take it to the pound.

This post has been edited by stamfordman: Mon, 21 May 2018 - 17:53
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Ace2k7
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 18:06
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QUOTE (stamfordman @ Mon, 21 May 2018 - 18:47) *
First calm down - a burst blood vessel won't help.

Nothing more to pay so appealing must be done.

My initial thoughts are that the council pics show a bay full of cars, and you don't appear to have a note of when the car was lifted.

Tower Hamlets is a very tow happy council and they could have relocated a resident's car, so there is proportionality.

Clearly ascertaining when the sign went up will also be crucial.

It's a shame the disabled badge wasn't displayed as they would have had to relocate it not take it to the pound.



Yes, but I usually don't display the disabled badge as I have permit to park there anyway. That's definitely changing from today. I was looking for the parking policy and the best I could find was something from 2008:

http://www.towerhamletsfoi.org.uk/document...Policy1%203.pdf

In this it states that 3 days notice should be given. If that is the case, and it is not 5 as the pound suggested, enough notice was still not given.

The bay was suspended 8:30AM on 16/05, so the notice should be going up no later than 08:30AM on Sunday 13/05. There was no suspension notice displayed on that day; I was parked there on the 13th at 9AM, and then again on 14th at 1AM and there were no suspension signs.

This post has been edited by Ace2k7: Mon, 21 May 2018 - 18:07
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stamfordman
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 18:16
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QUOTE (Ace2k7 @ Mon, 21 May 2018 - 19:06) *
Yes, but I usually don't display the disabled badge as I have permit to park there anyway. That's definitely changing from today. I was looking for the parking policy and the best I could find was something from 2008:

http://www.towerhamletsfoi.org.uk/document...Policy1%203.pdf

In this it states that 3 days notice should be given. If that is the case, and it is not 5 as the pound suggested, enough notice was still not given.

The bay was suspended 8:30AM on 16/05, so the notice should be going up no later than 08:30AM on Sunday 13/05. There was no suspension notice displayed on that day; I was parked there on the 13th at 9AM, and then again on 14th at 1AM and there were no suspension signs.


Good plan to keep the badge on display - it's protection against a venal council like Tower Hamlets.

That policy is the one I have - it's old but still in play I reckon. 3 days is not long enough to stand up at adjudication - 4 days at least is a rule of thumb from my experience on the forum but others will chip in.

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PASTMYBEST
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 18:47
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2160269959

I heard from the appellant when he attended on 19 July. The Council did not send a representative to the hearing.
He explained to me that on the Monday 15 February when the car was ticketed he was unaware of the suspension. On the Friday previous he had travelled with his freedom pass by train to spend a weekend with his sister in Bromley.
The Council appears to have been unreceptive to his request for penalty charge cancellation principally I believe as that absence and journey had not been established by firm evidence.
The appellant case is essentially that as the suspension notice appears to have gone up only on the Friday and he genuinely missed it the penalty charge be cancelled for want of reasonable notice.
I have not identified a sufficiently strong case (eg emergency) from the Council for such short notice and I have agreed the facts have not illustrated sufficient that is to say, reasonable advance warning from the Council for this particular penalty charge to stand.

2160241155

he Appellant has attended his appeal I find him to be an honest, convincing and consistent witness I believe what he tells me.
The Authority's case is that the Appellant's vehicle was parked in a suspended bay when in Carnarvon Road on 23 February 2016 at 12.52.
The Appellant's case is that there was no Penalty Charge Notice found affixed to his vehicle, that he had parked before the suspension notice had been erected on 17 February 2016, and that he was never informed that he had to check his vehicle on a daily basis before restrictions come into force.
I have considered the evidence and I find that this Penalty Charge Notice cannot be upheld for the following reasons:
First, I find that the suspension notice was erected too near to the suspension period; it is less than a week.
Second, I find that this resident permit holder of 4 years was never informed that he had to check his vehicle on a daily basis; the Authority has not produced any application or form that accompanied the permit informing a resident of this condition.
Taking these two matter together I find that this Penalty Charge Notice is not proved.
The appeal is allowed.

216038862A

The Appellant complains about the adequacy of the signage of this suspension and that as resident permit holder he could not be expected to check the sign for the bay on a daily basis implying that there was not sufficient advanced warning of the suspension.
Whilst there are no statutory provisions with regard to the placement of suspension signs including how far in an advance of the suspension they should be erected, Regulation 18 of the Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England &Wales) Regulations 1996 requires an Enforcement Authority to provide and maintain signs to "secure that adequate information as to the effect of the (Traffic Management) order is made available to persons using the road". In this context this requirement involves an assessment as to where and how many, the suspension signs, are necessary to advise the public and whether it was practical to post advanced warning signs and if so, how far in advance they should have been posted. Ordinarily, unless the reason for the suspension is an emergency for which no advance warning can be given, 5 to 7 clear days is the minimum period of warning, but each case does depend on its particular circumstances and it could be more or less.
Assuming that the advanced warning sign was erected when the suspension records showy say, it was no more than 2 clear days before the suspension, not several days before as claimed by the Enforcement Authority. The Authority do not give any reason why less than 5 to 7 clear days was given. On this ground alone the suspension was inadequately signed and therefore this appeal must be allowed.



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hcandersen
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 20:01
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Good plan to keep the badge on display - it's protection against a venal council like Tower Hamlets.


Don't, it's potentially unlawful.

It's a blue badge, not a carte blanche.

If you are correct, you win. If you're not, then you probably won't.

You and your wife say there was no sign as at 15th. So put this to the authority in your reps.

And you must require them to state why, as they had the option to move the vehicle to another place on a road, they removed your car to the pound, and reference this to their parking enforcement policy which you should require them to provide.

Forget indignation. As much as anything else, reps are a means of testing their position. So, less of you shouldn't have done and more of why did you?
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stamfordman
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 20:34
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QUOTE (hcandersen @ Mon, 21 May 2018 - 21:01) *
Good plan to keep the badge on display - it's protection against a venal council like Tower Hamlets.


Don't, it's potentially unlawful.



BBs cannot be used in residents bays in Tower Hamlets but leaving one alongside a valid res permit while the OP is away might just get it relocated rather than towed and I can't see it as unlawful although there's a risk a CEO won't see the res permit.

In inner London especially in Hackney and Tower Hamlets there are endless suspensions - filming again in the next street to me the other day - but we use our car every day.
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hcandersen
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 21:04
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https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/638526/blue-badge-rights-responsibilities.pdf

Pages 7 and 8.

It may not be displayed on the off-chance that an entitled person might be the next user. The driver is not the holder.
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stamfordman
post Mon, 21 May 2018 - 21:18
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QUOTE (hcandersen @ Mon, 21 May 2018 - 22:04) *
It may not be displayed on the off-chance that an entitled person might be the next user. The driver is not the holder.


Yes I know but in this case no parking concession is being claimed - unless you see the concession as being relocated rather than towed...

A badge can be left by accident on display - you wouldn't get penalised if displaying has no concession surely.
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hcandersen
post Tue, 22 May 2018 - 07:34
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It's not a concession, it's a limiting condition imposed on the authority by law ....

And....

'It is a criminal offence for you or anyone else to misuse the badge, and doing so could lead to a £1,000 fine and confiscation of the badge..'

Plus it makes a tempting target for thieves.
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