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I lent my car to my son to go and visit our estranged grandson - a rare opportunity as there has been very limited contact.
On entering the new estate where they live, he noticed his son in a play area with his mum and so pulled up to go and talk to them.
He tells me that he was stopped for no more than 5-7 minutes and then moved the car round to their property nearby.
Roll on a couple of weeks and I receive a Notice to Keeper from PCM demanding settlement of a PCN for 'Parking in a restricted area' - penalty £60 if paid quickly.
I looked at the evidence photographs - apparently taken through the windscreen of an adjacent vehicle. The first evidence photo was taken at 09:41:32 and the last at 09:43:47 - so covers a period of just 2 and a bit minutes. A later evidence photo taken at 09:59:14 is of a parking sign - but is very obviously not the same sign as the one visible next to the car - the sign is also illegible in the photo.
I appealed and said I was not the driver, made the mistake of saying it was my son driving (but didn't further ID him), explained the circumstances, pointed out that he was actually next to the vehicle the whole time talking to his ex wife and son. I also asked for a clearer photo of the sign as the evidence pic was unreadable.
Have now received a letter rejecting my appeal stating that the vehicle was parked and that a parking permit should be clearly displayed in the windscreen and was clearly in breach of the conditions of parking. (It should be noted that the Parking person who took the photos didn't get out of the car to inspect the dashboard to see if there was a visitor parking permit that may have been lying down on it as one would a parking ticket.)
No clearer photo of the sign was supplied so I still have no idea what the conditions actually were.
Am I correct in thinking that there should be a grace period of at least 10 minutes before a pcn is issued to allow the driver to read the sign and decide whther or not they wish to accept the conditions and take appropriate action? He tells me that this was his first visit to the estate and so wouldn't be aware of what te parking conditions are.
Do I have any further cause for appeal as Keeper?
Grateful for any thoughts
On entering the new estate where they live, he noticed his son in a play area with his mum and so pulled up to go and talk to them.
He tells me that he was stopped for no more than 5-7 minutes and then moved the car round to their property nearby.
Roll on a couple of weeks and I receive a Notice to Keeper from PCM demanding settlement of a PCN for 'Parking in a restricted area' - penalty £60 if paid quickly.
I looked at the evidence photographs - apparently taken through the windscreen of an adjacent vehicle. The first evidence photo was taken at 09:41:32 and the last at 09:43:47 - so covers a period of just 2 and a bit minutes. A later evidence photo taken at 09:59:14 is of a parking sign - but is very obviously not the same sign as the one visible next to the car - the sign is also illegible in the photo.
I appealed and said I was not the driver, made the mistake of saying it was my son driving (but didn't further ID him), explained the circumstances, pointed out that he was actually next to the vehicle the whole time talking to his ex wife and son. I also asked for a clearer photo of the sign as the evidence pic was unreadable.
Have now received a letter rejecting my appeal stating that the vehicle was parked and that a parking permit should be clearly displayed in the windscreen and was clearly in breach of the conditions of parking. (It should be noted that the Parking person who took the photos didn't get out of the car to inspect the dashboard to see if there was a visitor parking permit that may have been lying down on it as one would a parking ticket.)
No clearer photo of the sign was supplied so I still have no idea what the conditions actually were.
Am I correct in thinking that there should be a grace period of at least 10 minutes before a pcn is issued to allow the driver to read the sign and decide whther or not they wish to accept the conditions and take appropriate action? He tells me that this was his first visit to the estate and so wouldn't be aware of what te parking conditions are.
Do I have any further cause for appeal as Keeper?
Grateful for any thoughts
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