PCN - EURO CAR PARKS - APPEAL REJECTED, APPEAL AGAIN? Options

[ukunhappy2019]

I got a PCN notice from Euro Car Parks as I parked in a car park that I wasn't aware was now a pay and display car park on NYE (collecting my Indian)
I was somewhat shocked and surprised to receive the PCN, and went back to the location to see where the signs were etc.

I then decided to appeal the notice with Euro Car Parks on 22nd January 2018

Parking charge notice reference:(NUMBER)

I was issued a parking charge notice for parking at (Location and town) on 31/12/2018. I do believe this ticket was issued unfairly hence my appeal within the 14 days stipulated.
I do believe that there is inadequate signage around this site, indicating that I am not liable for the PCN charges you are trying to charge. I was not aware that this car park was under any car park authority prior to the PCN arriving. I revisited the site on 12th January 2019 at roughly the same time as i did on 31/12/2018 to get a better understanding .
The entrance sign has been placed incorrectly, in accordance with the AOS Code of Practice. under AOS Code of Practice section B 18.5 “they must have the opportunity to read the terms and conditions before they enter into the contract with you.”
As you will see from the below image driving into brewery street, the lamppost is slightly blocking the entrance sign which is 7 feet in the air. The driver would turn to right into (Street name) car park and with the sign at an angle and 7 foot in the air they would not have seen the initial entrance sign. Due to the way the post is placed would also mean it is within the drivers blind spot. This would mean that the driver was not given the opportunity to read the terms and conditions before entering the car park, thus not entering contract with yourselves.

When I revisited the car park on 12th January 2019, I realised the entrance sign was within blind spot and placed at an angle that meant the driver would not of entered contract as I was not given the opportunity to read the terms and conditions. As I read through the British Parking Associations Approved operator scheme Code of Practice and to see if your site was compliant, I found more failings within the guidelines that had been set but BPA meaning it could be classed as entrapment as you have not given myself or many other drivers opportunities to pay and realise the site is now a chargeable site.
As the AOS Code of Practice section B 18.3 states “Specific parking-terms signage tells drivers what your terms and conditions are, including your parking charges. You must place signs containing the specific parking terms throughout the site, so that drivers are given the chance to read them at the time of parking or leaving their vehicle. Signs must be conspicuous and legible, and written in intelligible language, so that they are easy to see, read and understand”
I walked around your car park for a while looking for the additional signage that you should have within your car park, as you can see from the photo below the signs were very much hidden by other vehicles meaning that again, you have failed in allowing me to read terms and conditions before I enter contract with yourself, thus meaning that on the evening of 31/12/2018 I did not enter contract with yourselves due to the above failings. It clearly shows the inadequate signage you have around your site.

I ask that you take the above factors into account and to reconsider the above mentioned Parking Charge Notice.


I have received a reply from Euro Car Parks with relation to the appeal and they have rejected it, although it doesn't seem that they have taken account of what I have put forward to them.
They also include a photo that was taken close up on a clear sunny day back on 23rd October 2018. Which was not true to someone visiting the car park at night with cars blocking the signs.

Thank you for your letter of appeal. The details of the Parking Charge Notice are as follows:

Parking Charge Notice Number: (NUMBER) Date of Issue: 31/12/2018
Vehicle Registration Mark: (REG) Time of Issue: 20:26:51
Car Park: (Street Name and Area)
Breach of Terms and Conditions: No valid pay and display/permit was purchased

Having carefully considered the evidence provided by you we have decided to reject your appeal for the following reasons:

• The car park is operated by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). 
• Cameras capture an image of vehicles entering and leaving the car park and calculate their length of stay on site. 
• When purchasing a pay and display ticket, you must enter the correct vehicle registration number (VRM) and this information is directed to the camera system. 
• I can confirm that no pay and display ticket matching your VRM was purchased at the time of the terms and conditions. 
• The signage is clear, a valid pay and display ticket must be purchased for the full duration of your stay on the car park. 
• I can confirm the parking charge notice was issued correctly and remains payable.

Please make payment of the discounted amount of £60.00 by visiting our website at www.eurocarparks.com or use the automated telephone service 0203 553 4559.
Alternatively make your cheque payable to Euro Car Parks Limited (to include a £2.50 handling charge for cheque processing) and post to Euro Car Parks Ltd, 30 Dorset Square, London, NW1 6QJ, quoting the PCN number on the reverse of the cheque.This amount is now due and the charge will be held for 14 days to allow time to make the payment. If payment is not received by this time the charge will increase to £100.00 and this may also result in the notice being passed to a third party with further charges applicable.
You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure.
By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsmanservices.org/) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.
Appeals may not be accepted if payment is made against the Parking Charge Notice, including any appeals logged via POPLA, if applicable
You can make an appeal to The Independent Appeals Service (POPLA) within 28 days online at www.popla.co.uk with the following reference number (NUMBER)
Alternatively, if you wish to appeal to the Independent Appeals Service by post a copy of the appeal application can be sent at your request.
Please be advised that if you opt for independent arbitration of your case the ability to pay the parking charge at the reduced rate will be at an end.
If you opt to pay the parking charge notice you will be unable to appeal to POPLA. If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via debt recovery procedures and may proceed with Court action against you.


I do not know how to upload photos but the evidence I displayed was the signs being blocked by vehicles and not within eyesight lines to know that there were charges to the car park. In the dark you really can not see the signs so feel that this is very unfair.

Opinions on if I should appeal again, and also how to upload photos would be great.

Thanks

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[ukunhappy2019]

I have managed to attach photos of roughly the time of night we were at the car park and how we didn't notice the signs.

The entrance sign is 7ft in the air !