And thank you for making this new forum and being so very helpful for me previously.
On behalf of a friend, was doing a moving job for a customer who resides in the building that enforces these restrictions. Sadly he did not request a virtual permit nor can he contact the customer again to request the landowner building to cancel the charge. Google maps isn't helpful to read the parking sign and the online portal does not show it.
Evidence photos show the time of entry for the job. Then the photos later on, is when the driver was leaving the site but the vehicle drive motor failed to engage. The driver reversed to move out of the middle of the road for 3 minutes until the vehicle would select drive again. The brake lights were on the whole way, the vehicle was in active operation and no parking took place.
I based my appeal on the BPA 5 minute consideration period rules and the fact that the vehicle was still in operation, not parked.
Below are their evidence photos and the letter. Please help.
My attempt at an appeal.
I am appealing this notice as the Registered Keeper of the vehicle. This charge is legally unenforceable and must be cancelled immediately based on the following conclusive grounds:
1. Photographic Evidence Proves the Vehicle Was Not "Parked": The operator's own photographic evidence refutes the claim that the vehicle was parked. In every single photograph spanning the 4-minute window (18:10 to 18:14), the vehicle's brake lights are clearly illuminated. This provides indisputable physical proof that the engine was running, a driver was at the controls with their foot on the brake, and the vehicle was never left unattended. Under established contract law, "parking" requires a degree of permanence. The vehicle was merely stationary in traffic.
2. Frustration of Contract (Vehicle Malfunction & Traffic Management): As shown by the vehicle's position in your photos—which is angled away from the pavement rather than aligned to it—the van was not in a parking position. The vehicle suffered a sudden mechanical/electronic system malfunction and would not move forward. The driver was forced by emergency safety to reverse out of the path of oncoming traffic to allow the onboard computer system to reset. A contract cannot be formed when an event is dictated by sudden mechanical failure and basic road safety.
3. Permitted Loading/Unloading for a Lawful Resident: The vehicle is a commercial van engaged in a move-in job for a resident of the property. Tenants and their hired contractors hold an implied right to use service areas to drop off or collect goods. I have attached the job summary for the resident in your building.
4. Breach of Mandatory BPA Consideration Period: Your ANPR cameras show entry at 17:41, but your specific photos alleging a contravention only span from 18:10 to 18:14. As a BPA Approved Operator, you are legally bound to provide a minimum 5-minute consideration period for a driver to enter a site and navigate it before a contract forms. Your evidence shows a stationary window of only three minutes. The vehicle departed before the consideration period expired, meaning no contract was ever entered into.
Please cancel this notice immediately.
I have now received a Claim Form and have begun to create a defence based on other posts I've found. I am unsure if the format is correct, so please let me know if it is not. I am also obviously unsure of the content of my defence, but the general basis is on the lack of any consideration period given the time the vehicle was stopped was less than 2 minutes.
If it is relevant, the driver has not been identified.
Particulars of Claim:
The driver of vehicle registration **** breached the prominently displayed terms and conditions of parking at UXBRIDGE IND EST WALLINGFORD RD SALISBURY RD ARUNDEL RD UXBRIDGE UB8 2RZ - ARUNDEL RD UXBRIDGE UB8 2RZ. on 19/05/2025 by PARKING IN NO PARKING AREA. The signage constituted an offer of a unilateral contract accepted by the act of parking, In the event of breach, the driver agreed to pay the specified parking charge.
The Parking Charge Notices remain unpaid after 28 days and the Defendant, as driver and/or registered keeper, is liable for the outstanding sums. Despite demands, payment has not been made.
The Claimant therefore claims £100 for the PCN, £70.00 contractual costs pursuant to the Contract and PCN terms and conditions, together with statutory interest of £17.01 pursuant to s69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at 8% per annum, accruing at £0.04 per day until judgment or earlier payment.
_____
I have read that the PoC from Gladstones are often defective. Is that the case here or have they included everything properly?
My defence so far is as follows:
1. The defendant denies the claim in its entirety. The defendant denies any liability to the Claimant and that any debt is owed.
2. Time-stamped images supplied by the Claimant show the vehicle was stopped for less than two minutes. The BPA Code of Practice states that “they must allow a consideration period of appropriate duration”. The concept of such a period is to allow the driver time to read the signage and decide if they want to accept, not to interpret while they are driving past.
3. PCM (UK) v Bull and UKCPS v Masterson establish that signage that is entirely forbidding in nature does not make a contractual offer and simply states a prohibition. As there is no offer, the driver could not have accepted a contract by stopping.
4. “Stopping” and “Parking” are distinct actions. Homeguard Services Ltd v Jopson (2016) ruled that “merely to stop a vehicle cannot be to park it”. The Claimant alleges that the driver had parked the vehicle, however, this is refuted by their own supplied images showing the vehicle stopped for a brief period of time while the driver remained inside the vehicle. This cannot be interpreted as an intention to enter into a parking contract.
Once again, I am unsure if this is correct. I appreciate any advice.
This case concerns a Parking Charge Notice (private parking firm) issued by ParkingEye Ltd, relating to an alleged contravention on Wednesday, 08 October 2025. The notice itself is dated Saturday, 11 October 2025, and I first became aware of it via received initial notice.
The notice appears to have been issued as By post (ANPR/camera). Driver identified status: NO. Equality Act considerations: No. The location is stated as Chalon Way West Retail Park - St Helens.
A preliminary Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) assessment indicates COMPLIANT: Likely PoFA timing compliant for paragraph 9 (postal NtK, no windscreen NtD). Route applied: PoFA paragraph 9 (postal NtK, no windscreen NtD). The notice is treated as given on Tuesday, 14 October 2025 (6 days after the alleged event).
Current stage:
- Notice responded to: Yes
- Debt recovery letters: No
- Letter of Claim: No
- County Court claim: Yes
Response/appeal already sent (verbatim where possible):
to:enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk
Wed, 24 Dec 2025, 13:32
Dear Sirs,
I am the keeper of the vehicle and I dispute your 'parking charge'. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.
As your Notice to Keeper (NtK) does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012, you are unable to hold the keeper of the vehicle liable for the charge. Partial or even substantial compliance is not sufficient. There will be no admission as to who was driving and no inference or assumptions can be drawn. Parkingeye has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.
The registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtK can only hold the driver liable. Parkingeye have no hope at POPLA, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE Thank you for your email. Parkingeye can confirm receipt of your correspondence. The Parkingeye Enforcement Team will endeavour to respond to your query at the earliest opportunity. However, please note that it may take up to 10 working days to provide this response. Should your query be in relation to a non-enforcement matter, we request that this is directed to the appropriate department or personnel to ensure it is dealt with in the most timely manner possible. Privacy Queries Please note that if your query relates to Parkingeye’s approach to privacy and you are a motorist that has received a Parking Charge or visited a car park managed by Parkingeye, then we will endeavour to pass your query to our Privacy Team, where appropriate. For your information, our privacy policy can be found at: www.parkingeye.co.uk/privacy-policy As this inbox is not monitored by our Privacy Team, should you wish to provide further information relating to your privacy query then we would ask that this is sent directly to our Privacy Team via either of the three channels noted below: Web: www.parkingeye.co.uk/privacy-policy and complete the online form. Post: Write to Privacy Team, Parkingeye, PO Box 117, Blyth, NE24 9EJ. Email: privacy@parkingeye.co.uk
We are writing to you to in relation to the Parking Charge incurred on 08 October 2025 at xxxx, at Chalon Way West Retail Park - St Helens car park.
Please find attached information concerning your appeal.
Kind Regards,
Parkingeye Team
--------------------------------
Letter attachment to above email:
05 January 2026
Reference: Parking Charge Notice - xxxx
Dear Sir / Madam,
We write further to your recent correspondence concerning the above referenced Parking Charge. We recently sent you a Letter Before Claim which informed you that this Parking Charge remains outstanding and had now been processed for further action.
We note from your reply to our Letter Before Claim that you dispute the outstanding sum.
After reviewing your correspondence, it is our position that the Parking Charge remains open. As a Letter Before Claim has now been issued, we are unable to consider any further correspondence.
The Letter Before Claim also included information regarding our appeals procedure which explains that al appeals must be received within 28 days from the date of our initial correspondence. As the time to appeal has expired, we are unable to consider any appeals points at this stage.
Payment can be made by telephoning our offices on 0330 555 4444, by visiting www.parkingeye.co.uk, or by posting a cheque/postal order to the below address. Please note that you must quote the above Parking Charge reference on the reverse of the cheque or postal order.
Yours faithfully,
Parkingeye Team
County Court claim deadlines: issue date Tuesday, 08 September 2026, deemed service Sunday, 13 September 2026, AoS deadline 4pm Monday, 28 September 2026, defence deadline without AoS 4pm Monday, 28 September 2026, and defence deadline with AoS 4pm Monday, 12 October 2026.
Since ParkingEye email/letter on 5 January, no further correspondence at all. Only CC claim form. Have responded to acknowledgement of claim, but unsure of defence needing to be submitted. Previous FTLA forum suggest low chance of success.
Seems I missed original appeal deadline. I also did not see the response to my email to PE 5 Jan until checking recently after receiving claim form.
Vehicle / Keeper Status: Registered Keeper
Operator: Euro Car Parks (ECP)
Location: Morrisons - Bangor
Total PCNs Issued: 7 (£700 total)
Situation Summary:
The Registered Keeper maintained an active, paid monthly parking permit for the Morrisons Bangor site. On 16th July 2026, the monthly pass renewed automatically via the parking app. On the exact same date, the Registered Keeper acquired a new vehicle (proven by the V5C logbook slip transfer date).
The new vehicle was parked on-site, while the previous vehicle was removed within 30 minutes (well under the 180-minute free parking limit on-site). The driver attempted to update the active pass to the new registration via the app, but the system glitched/reverted to the old registration mark.
As a result, Euro Car Parks issued 7 Parking Charge Notices for the new vehicle.
Current Actions Taken:
1. An initial appeal was submitted to Euro Car Parks, which resulted in a generic rejection letter.
2. POPLA Appeals: Two active POPLA appeals were submitted on 1st September for the first and last PCNs. Evidence uploaded includes the 1-month permit receipt, same-day V5C slip, and details of the vehicle swap. The POPLA tracker currently sits at "In Progress / Operator Evidence Requested".
3. Unappealed Tickets: Due to personal constraints, 5 intermediate notices missed the 28-day ECP appeal window and could not be appealed via POPLA.
4. Landowner Contact: A verbal approach to local Morrisons store staff resulted in the usual "it's a third-party parking company matter" deflection.
Advice Sought:
1. Given the clear proof of a paid permit and same-day vehicle acquisition, how does POPLA typically treat this under Section 17 of the BPA Code of Practice (Major Keying / Permit Selection Errors)?
2. What is the recommended strategy for the remaining 5 unappealed notices once debt collection agency letters begin arriving?
3. Is it worth escalating directly to Morrisons Corporate / Executive Customer Care to request a landowner cancellation for the full set of 7 PCNs?
I hope that this is not too long, and it risks straying away from strict parking law. Please remove if not appropriate.
1.5 months ago I moved into a new flat. As part of this flat, I was given an allocated parking space that corresponds to my flat number. This was confirmed by the estate agent in writing and through various documents exchanged before move in.
I inquired directly about whether or not the space was included in my lease, and this was confirmed. At no point did the estate agent mention a parking permit, nor did I ever receive a permit when I moved in. The only mention of a permit in my tenancy agreement is a generic clause stating that I must return any parking permits when I leave. The allocated space is mentioned in the inventory, but no mention of a permit.
Last Tuesday (one week ago) I received a parking fine from P4Parking for failure to display a valid permit. The residents parking area recently came under management of P4Parking, from what I gather earlier this year prior to my moving in, when I think my flat was vacant. There is (new) signage in the parking area.
I have appealed the ticket, and reached out to building management who have informed me that permits were delivered 'by post/hand'.
I mentioned to the real estate agent that they had a duty of care to provide me with a permit (or details of) permits that are required or my quiet enjoyment of the property. I asked for them to get in touch with the management to arrange a new permit and to get the PCN cancelled, or to pay for the ticket on my behalf.
They responded with the following:
"Dear _____,
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to make payment towards the parking ticket you have received. As the vehicle was parked without a valid permit being displayed, we would recommend continuing to contact the parking company directly to explain the circumstances and ask whether they would be willing to waive the charge.
This is the first time we have received a request from you regarding a parking permit, despite you having been living at the property for some time. We do not normally deal directly with parking permits; however, we appreciate that you would now like to get this arranged and I will be contacting the block management company to find out how we can obtain a permit for your allocated parking space."
I've had no contact with them since, and they've ghosted me on a number of issues in the past.
I've continued some back and forth, and the appeal has not been responded to yet, but I was wondering what my best approach to this would be going forward?
I would rather not pay as I believe that the Estate Agent has a duty to provide me with a permit if required or to inform me of it.
Today I received a PCN from a company called Parking Control Management. It states that I parked for a duration of 10 minutes on private land which is PERMIT HOLDERS ONLY.
The driver was collecting some furniture from a Facebook marketplace seller, and I am surprised that it was even 10 minutes. Now they want at least £60!
I have appealed the notice on the grounds that the vehicle was being loaded with heavy furniture from a resident, and that I was not the driver of the car.
I have also attached a screenshot of a message from the seller telling me that there is a car park which can be used to "load and stuff" alongside their full address.
What are the chances of this winning on appeal, and if not, do I have a leg to stand on to continue to complain and push ahead?
I'm currently fighting with a Real Estate agent who is not giving me a permit for my separate and unrelated parking space at home (where I got ticketed), so this £60 is really hitting me!
Thanks for reading! Any thoughts/help would be much appreciated.
This case concerns a Parking Charge Notice (private parking firm) issued by Premier Park Ltd, relating to an alleged contravention on Tuesday, 25 August 2026. The notice itself is dated Tuesday, 25 August 2026, and I first became aware of it via received initial notice.
The notice appears to have been issued as By post (ANPR/camera). Driver identified status: NO. Equality Act considerations: Yes. The location is stated as Aspects Leisure Park, Bristol (Patrol).
A preliminary Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) assessment indicates COMPLIANT: Likely PoFA timing compliant for paragraph 9 (postal NtK, no windscreen NtD). Route applied: PoFA paragraph 9 (postal NtK, no windscreen NtD). The notice is treated as given on Thursday, 27 August 2026 (2 days after the alleged event).
Current stage:
- Notice responded to: No
- Debt recovery letters: No
- Letter of Claim: No
- County Court claim: No
Additional notes provided:
The Keeper received this notice on 05/09/2026.
The Driver has relayed to the Keeper that they were present at the leisure park on the day in question, but believes they had already left by the 1pm "incident time" shown. In addition the driver is a registered disabled person with severe mobility issues and a current Blue Badge holder. They firmly believe, but cannot be 100% certain, that they had displayed their Blue Badge, as they always would when parking in a disabled bay.
The driver is particularly concerned that this NTK is for failure to display a blue badge, yet does not show a picture of the front of the vehicle, and that the times shows in the photographs do not match the incident time shown on the NTK.
Please can I have advice on the strongest next steps and defence points for this case.
A quick Lidl shop and I'm rewarded with a PCN.
Please can someone advise on my opening salvo? As usual, they want me to identify the driver... obviously I will not oblige them.
Anything else I need to say?
Many thanks! John
This case concerns a Parking Charge Notice issued by Horizon Parking Ltd.
Alleged contravention on Friday, 22 May 2026. The notice itself is dated Wednesday, 01 July 2026, and I first became aware of the contravention via a “keeper reminder notification.” No other notice was delivered.
The notice appears to have been issued by post (ANPR/camera).
Driver identified status: NO.
Equality Act considerations: Yes.
The location is stated as Tesco [location redacted].
A preliminary Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) assessment indicates NON_COMPLIANT: Likely outside PoFA paragraph 9 timing window. Route applied: PoFA paragraph 9 (postal NtK, no windscreen NtD). The notice is treated as given on Friday, 03 July 2026 (42 days after the alleged event). On this basis, keeper liability may not be established.
Current stage:
- Notice responded to: Yes
- Debt recovery letters: No
- Letter of Claim: No
- County Court claim: No
The alleged contravention is the car overstayed by 11 minutes, 53 seconds (going by the ANPR photos Horizon has sent me) at night. It was a Friday night, and the Tesco would have been open until midnight.
I regularly work 400 miles away. The car I’m the keeper of is kept at my family’s address, where it’s been registered since 2018. As I’m working away a lot, I ask relatives to start/occasionally use the car, so the battery isn’t going flat etc. I was home most of June though, and no notice to keeper was delivered within 14 days of 22 May 2026. I’d have seen it. The first I learned of it was when I opened a keeper reminder notification letter, issue date 1st July 2026 (attached a redacted copy).
Did some reading up about these things, and noted that for the PoFA keeper liability to apply, the statutory conditions had to be met. This is ultimately why I’m contesting it.
To date Horizon has failed to produce the first keeper notification. I don’t think one was sent, or even exists. It seemed to me they’re just chancing it. I sent a first appeal to Horizon on 10th July 2026, pointing out they did not appear to have met the PoFA conditions for keeper liability to apply. I’ll post a summary of my appeal to Horizon in a second post.
Horizon responded to my appeal on 31st July. It seemed I’d just been (mostly) sent a template, or it was a phishing attempt to get me to name the driver. Their email invited to me submit additional evidence, “to support your claim that you were shopping in Tesco,” when I had made no such claim in my appeal at all! I had however clearly stated several times in what I’d submitted that no keeper notification had been delivered within 14 days. I would have thought Horizon would have sent me a copy of it. They haven’t.
I was working away throughout most of July and August, and realised it might help if I could take some photos of the signs at this Tesco at the same time (between 22:45-23:57). However, I’m not due home until next week. So I took Horizon up on their option of submitting additional evidence, to buy myself time and get a new POPLA code. One of my relatives visited the Tesco, and took photos of the car park entrance sign for me, but it was still quite light at 20:00.
.
I checked against the British Parking Association Code of Practice, and picked a few holes about the car park entrance sign with reference to the BPA Code of Practice. I sent additional points of appeal and my first appeal points again, along with photos my relative had taken on 7th August.
I finally received an appeal rejection from Horizon on 28th August, and am now intending to appeal to POPLA. Horizon’s latest email stinks of template response.
I’ll attach it to a second post with the appeal points I’d sent.
Please can I have thoughts/advice on the strongest next steps and defence points, as well as any relevant experiences others have had.
Thanks in advance.
As mentioned above, I’ve attached both parts of the appeal sent to Horizon and their rejection from 28th August.
Separate point about the elusive notice to keeper
As well as my appeal, I sent a subject access request (SAR) to Horizon’s data protection team after they failed to send a copy of a “first” notice to keeper after my first appeal. To date I have only had the “reminder to keeper notification,” as attached in my opening post.
After some back and forth emails, Horizon’s data protection team replied to my SAR, and stated there were no letters or records with my name or address, other than the same emails I’d sent to them with my SAR.
I was very clear in what I was requesting in the SAR: I wanted electronic copies of letters Horizon Parking Ltd and associated companies had sent to me at the address I provided. I received nothing. Frankly, I thought this said it all about Horizon. They didn’t even send a copy of the reminder to keeper notification letter, which I had specifically mentioned in the SAR.
This further reinforces my belief there was never a (first) notice sent to the keeper before that reminder letter I’ve had. Why wouldn’t they have taken the opportunity to have included this in their response to my appeal, if it existed of course?!
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Very grateful for your help and support so far on FTLA.
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