I have just received an NtO from Islington claiming an alleged offence of parking/part parking in a suspended residents permit bay. I am resident in Islington, and have the correct permit for the place my car was parked.
I never received the original PCN, but since I don't use my car much (once week at weekends tops) some low-life must have removed it during the week. I'd appreciate some help/opinions from forum members on two points i) whether the sign suspending the bay is legal and ii) whether the NtO received is flawed and unenforceable.
Here are the photos the CEO took of the suspension signs (date and time removed but they do agree with the time/date of the alleged contravention).
The suspension sign doesn't look right to me - the symbol is obscured and after reading the TSR 2002 the layout of the text may possibly not be one of the Permitted Combinations allowed on signs. Do these points make the sign, and thus the suspension, invalid?
There was only one sign at one end of the bay the Council was trying to suspend - my car was at the other, 20 metres away! Is it the case that, as with any restriction, all entry points to a restriction have to be sign-posted? If this is the case, can the suspension actually have been legal?
The other problem I have is with the NtO. I cannot scan and attach it until tomorrow evening, but have these general questions:
The Notice has a Date, and has the statement "The Penalty Charge must be paid within the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service of this Notice". However, nowhere in the Notice does it actually state the date of service, or any assumptions made about the delivery of the Notice by first class post (2 days I think is usual) - i.e. the Council have not allowed time for the delivery of the notice. Does this prejudice me in any way?
In the How to Challenge section, the NtO also has the statement "Islington Council may disregard any representations received outside the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service of the PCN" (my emphasis). However, it is an NtO that has been sent, not a PCN!!! And also there is the issue of the date of service as noted above.
There may be other flaws in the NtO. I realise that without seeing the actual NtO forum members might not be able to make a totally accurate call, but in any case, do the two issues with the NtO noted make it invalid? And if it is invalid, can the Council collect a fine by simply re-issuing a corrected version?
All help and comments gratefully received!!