Firstly Hi everyone.
I received a FPN on the 13/06 for parking in a market square which is normally allowed but because it was market day...no,no, no. There is a sign but I was in a rush and didn`t see it. Anyway the notice was in two pieces( the ref number separate from the rest of the ticket) and the time was an hour out (said i was parked at 11:42, i got back to my car at 10:50!!). The FPN states that if i pay within 7 days I can pay £10 instead of £20. I appealed immediately and awaited the outcome. Saturday 24/06 I received a letter dated 16/06 saying that my appeal was unsuccessful and my "discounted charge" was extended to the 23/06 !!. The letter was postmarked 22/06 and is second class postage.
I know its not a vast amount of dosh but I hate my *^%*in council and their little "expense accounts"
I have searched the forums but I need a bit of advice please.
Thank you all
Dave

First appeals are routinely rejected.

If you are certain time is an hour out, then the PCN is invalid.
Parking attendant's movements before/after your PCN should prove this.

Their ticket machine logs their movements at roads with the Controlled zone & tickets issued.

You can have fun saying time is wrong, PCN is clearly invalid and ask for data logging information
from the attendant's machine.

After a couple of letters the Council will lose interest, as they will lose any appeal.

peterb

PETERB
Thank you for your quick response. The reply i have from the council agrees with the discrepancy of time. Infact they say that "the electronically recorded time is 10:39 but this has no bearing on the fact that the notice was issued in regard to item 8 on your fixed penalty charge indicating that your vehicle was parked in an unauthorised area i.e. No Parking on Market Days"
So it`s off to appeal again. Is there a preferable way forward?
Thanks again
Dave

Did the sign actually mention market days as opposed to tuedsays? If so then it's probably a bad sign...

Agreed, the sign should be specific so that the motorist can easily understand them. It is not for the motorist to determine what day market day is; it is for the signage to indicate to the motorist that market days are such and such.

Thank you for the replys,
I`m going to have to have a look at the sign, I can`t remember exactly what it says. It will be a couple of days before I can get there..probably Market Day!

Well I had a look and the signs are specific, "no parking on Market days Tuesdays and Thursdays 01:00 to 5pm". DAMM

Was it a FPN (e.g. issued by Police), or maybe it was a PCN (e.g. issued by Council)?
If it was a PCN, then the 50% discount would apply if paid within 14 days.
If your PCN said "7 days" then the council did not comply with the law and such PCN is unlawful and unenforceable.

It would help if you say which council has issued this PCN.

It's still not allowed to mention market days and therefore, from your description, isn't a legally reognised sign.

Did it actually say "no parking" or was it the blue & red circle? I don't think I've seen a sign that says "no parking" only "no waiting" and "no stopping". Or should I say "no parking" is not something I have seen as a permitted varient on any sign.

A photo of the sign would be good. I should encourage people to take photos of signs.

Well the "Notice to pay Fixed Penalty Charge" was issued on behalf of the council by subcontractor I believe. I have seen them going around in the past and I`m sure that they have a company logo on their shirts/hats.
The notice says "A Fixed Penalty of £20 has been incurred for the following reason" it then has a tick box which is says various things, mine is "other" and indicates no parking on market days.
It hten also states that "You are required to pay the fixed penalty notice within 14 days of the above date. See over for notes regarding payment and discount. OTHER SIDE... Discount, If payment is received within 7 days by NORTH WARWICKSHIRE BOROUGH COUNCIL in the manner set out above, a payment of £10 will be accepted in full settlement.



I`ll get a photo sorted shortly.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/donald1/parking.jpg
I hope this works!!!.
Thanks to everyone for their assistance. And I just realised it`s Tuesdays and FRIDAYS

Hahaha!
Um... I mean... That sign does not appear in the TSRGD.
It looks more like what someone might make to put on private property.

Does the FPN actually state the description (and probably a code) of the alledged offence?

On the notice it has 8 box`s, the first 7 have specific "offences" against them the last is "Other Reason".
There is a tick box next to the numbers and mine is ticked "other reason". In ink, written by the warden i presume, is No Parking on Market Days. There are no codes against any of the offences. I`m off to work now but I am going to get my son to post a copy of the ticket.
Thanks again
Dave


[url=http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/donald1/ticket2.jpg]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/donald1/ticket2.jpg

Would be great if the ticket could be uploaded at a slightly higher resolution, but from what I can see the ticket itself looks a bit dodgy - it has the date it was seen, but not the date it was issued. If it is on a tear-off payment strip not shown then would still not be enough.

On the sign side of things, do the signs need to be TSRGD for off-street parking places, ie. this appears to
effectively be a council run car park which is free at certain times. A local village has done a similar thing with their market square, and the signs are a dark green and a traditional style.

Gareth

Hiya

This might be abit late, but then again it might not. I would ask the council to see the TRO relating to the parking restriction which prevents parking during the times stated. On public roads coucils cannot just put up signs without having a TRO to back them up and hence show you are committing an offence.

A favourite trick of the council to save money is not to actually do a TRO (which cost them money), they then rely up the majority of the law abiding population to pay up, especially if the fine is kept low.