My Thanks to Neil Herron of the Metric Martyrs Fund for assisting with this Blog set up, you can read more of Neils exploits with Councils up and down the country, visit his website and blogspot for some really interesting and hard hitting stuff on parking http://www.parkingappeals.co.uk/
http://www.parkingappeals.co.uk/Home/MotormouthBlog/tabid/148/Default.aspx
My first post is about a bay in School St Westhoughton, there are about four shops in School st amongst them are two well known shops and some customers of these shops, Blockbuster and Leap Frog Computers have been at the sharp end of over zealous Parking Attendants they seem to appear from nowhere, in a response from a lady for help about a PCN
issued for being over the bay by a couple of inches I have checked the Traffic Regulation Order for School St and although the Double yellow Lines are valid with the TRO, the bay though does not conform to the Traffic Signs Regulations and Directions 2002, the bay on the right is not listed in any shape or form, it is a bay that Bolton Council have invented, so it is not a Lawful bay, it is a mongrel bay crossed between a 1032 bay and 1028.4 bay the double broken line at the front of the vehicle bay is from a 1032 bay whilst the long broken line parallel with the kerbline is from a 1028.4 bay, if it had a single broken line at the front it could pass for a 1028.2 bay if the lines were yellow and if they were white it would be a 1028.3 bay, Bolton have cocked up again, so nothing different there then, anyone who has had a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) issued in this bay and paid it, can apply for restitution.You will probably read a lot about TSRGD's, TRO's, and PCN's in future Bloggs on here, so to explain them in that order. The TSRGD is a book about an inch thick (25mm) and is known as Statutory Instrument (S.I)3113 it is about the signs the councils will provide for the control of Traffic in any Borough, a sign can be on the ground, as in lines, or on a plate, as on a pole, or on a board, as in a direction sign, or Condition of Use sign at the entrance to a car park, if the sign does not conform in any way like the one above then it is invalid, if the sign is as described in the book but different in the measurement we refer to the permitted variations, if the sign is within the permitted variations it is valid, if not it is invalid See page 18 Table 2 of the TSRGD for the permitted variations for Schedule 6 if you have the book, otherwise you can view your very own copy at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20023113.htm#11 A Traffic Regulation Order is like a Bye law and it the TRO that makes the Lines and signs in any Borough lawful, The TRO legalises them in a way the Council can issue, collect and pursue monetary penalties issued whilst enforcing the necessary road acts of which there are quite a few, from drink driving to running a red light and from parking a few inches over a line, to forgetting to sign your driving licence, and a Penalty Charge Notice is a document issued to to an individual who commits a contravention, of which there are lots, see here for a copy:http://www.parking-appeals.gov.uk/IveReceived/PCNcodes.asp the wording on a PCN is laid down in the Road Traffic act 1991 section 66(3)(a-f) http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1991/ukpga_19910040_en_7
'The 1991 Road Traffic Act creates a scheme for the civil enforcement of parking control. Under this scheme, motorists become liable to pay financial penalties when certain specified statutory conditions are met. If the statutory conditions are not met, then the financial liability does not arise.' that last para was from a high court case of which you will be hearing and reading about from time to time, commonly known as the Barnet case, or the 2 date issue.
The Majority, of PCN's issued can be appealed against and won, because all councils rely on the fact that less than 1% of PCN's are taken to appeal and 63% of those individuals that do attend the appeal in person win their appeal, but this reduces to 40% if they do not attend, 30% of all PCN's are paid in full within 14 days. I will print more statistics here when I have compiled my list from Freedom of Information Request from Bolton Council regarding PCN's.
Bolton Council is a Lawless Council bordering on criminality and will be exposed in the coming months.
