Need help with PCN

[Biker Biggles]

If,and its a big if,you can prove your conversation with Wandsworth council telling you that you can park there you might have a case as they are the enforcing authority.However,if they deny any conversation you are probably bu88ered.

[squirrel_hunter]

The only thing I can add here is the question of, are you sure you were on the pavement?

From my knowledge the pavement only extends to the boundary of the building. So there might actually be part of the building that is level with the pavement that you can park on. You can usually see this with different construction materials, but might not be obvious, and I don't know the area you got the ticket in. But its why you don't get a ticket for parking on your driveway if you are lucky enough to have one.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by agy

If you call the council and they say you can park on the pavement no probs then that's that. Like I say, everyone I spoke to never heard of this fact. Wouldn't even cross my mind to find whether lines apply to the pavement as it makes no logical sense at all. The marking is on the road. Not on the pavement. It's like someone telling you the price of the item on shelf 1 also applies to the DIFFERENT item on shelf 2 although there is no indication of it being the case and item 1 is expensive and item 2 is shabby.

Parking restriction on the road stops vehicles from obstructing the passage of other vehicles or access. No vehicles will be passing through the pavement. It is logical to think the restriction applies to the road that is actually being used. Not the attached pavement that has nothing to do with passage or access of the adjecent road.

Fact is these people are a waste of space, the traffic wardens aren't inclined to apply common sense and are probably on a commission for getting people.

Person you spoke to on phone may have applied common sense and/or guidelines at the time... you have no proof of this, even if you had and they were wrong at the time. They're council bureaucrats... job protection and *rse covering is their entire world... you have snowballs chance in hell anyone will admit to that conversation in writing!

Yes they are thieving scum for handing tickets out for what's not doing anyone any harm, but if it comes to it you have your day in court then they probably will take the letter of the law (my opinion), rather than common sense.


Try pepipoo forums IMO, if there is a way to get out of paying it they will know about it... the best way to phrase an appeal etc.

It may be worth appealing but check out pepipoo and you should get a reasonable idea of the chances of success. Have to consider whether appeal means loss of chance of the discount if paid within 14 days that some of them offer? Up to you then.


P.S a lot of people ignore private parking invoices... this is not one of those, don't ignore it.

[Littlepeahead]

Originally Posted by squirrel_hunter

The only thing I can add here is the question of, are you sure you were on the pavement?

From my knowledge the pavement only extends to the boundary of the building. So there might actually be part of the building that is level with the pavement that you can park on. You can usually see this with different construction materials, but might not be obvious, and I don't know the area you got the ticket in. But its why you don't get a ticket for parking on your driveway if you are lucky enough to have one.

A lot of places in the City have little studs in the pavement that shows the boundary of the property. They are quite subtle.

Agy, don't take this as aimed at you as your case sounds different, I mean this generally, but having now spent a fair bit of time with Debs and her guide dog you realise just how inconsiderate it is when people park on the pavement even when there are no lines - be that bikes or cars and vans. That could be where a delivery driver puts two wheels up on the curb or a biker parking outside a shop because there is a wider pavement. The dog won't be able to get through the space and so this forces the visually impaired person to have to walk into the road. (Same for those with pushchairs). I think all those people should get a ticket. It could be that a few complaints have been made about inconsiderate parking in that area and whereas you never got a ticket before they are now applying the the rules more stringently and you got unlucky.

Thanks Chris. I have posted on pepipoo. Anything is worth a try as it's a lot of money. I know what everyone is saying about this actually being correct but I still don't think it's fair as it's not like I knew and did something really obviously illegal hoping to get away with it. It's not like I blatantly stopped on a yellow line on a busy road and fecked off for the day blocking everyone. They are s**m and making money of people who are actually honest and law abiding.
Littlepeahead, it's a really wide pavement with tons of room.

[Red Herring]

Agy, one of the things that makes this forum stand out from many others is that we are generally fairly polite to each other and it's very rare for anyone to have a proper dig at someone, and this is particularly important when you consider how many people buy SV's as their first big bike and as a result come on here fairly inexperienced around all things motorcycles....

You will find lots of threads on here about how people have made mistakes and they ask for advice on how to sort it out, and we want to help them do so, but the vast majority of these individuals accept they have made a mistake and just want to learn from it.

With all due respect you are not coming across that way. You seem to think it's everybody else fault but yours, and that simply isn't the case. It's not a scam and you're not being conned. You did do something that was really obviously illegal, you rode a motorcycle up onto the pavement and left it there. As you pointed out, and we have discussed, lots of people do it, but that doesn't make it any less illegal. If you genuinely thought it was OK to ride on the pavement (or park there) then I seriously suggest you dig out your Highway Code and have another read through it because there are lots and lots of rules and regulations just waiting to trip you up and ignorance is no defence. Knowing what you are doing is your responsibility, nobody else's. By all means check out the location and make sure you really were on the pavement (post a link to where it is on here if you want some advice on it), and feel free to slag off parking attendants, we've all done it at some point, but please stop making out you've been treated unfairly. It sounds to me as if you're got away with it for quite a while, just be grateful for that.

[Littlepeahead]

My colleague took his Lambretta into a no vehicles zone a couple of weeks back. Engine off, and pushed it over a pavement, through the closed off bit then across the other pavement and then started up the engine and rode off. He was caught on camera and got a fine. He asked me what I thought about appealing, as he wasn't 'riding' the bike at the time. I checked with a friendly orger in the know who advised me that he had no chance in an appeal because even when your bike has the engine switched off it's still a motor vehicle and if you take that past a sign saying no vehicles you've broken the law. Like you, he had done this before and not got a ticket, but now they have put up a camera. It wasn't legal before, he was just lucky not to get caught. Sounds like you may have a similar situation.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by tom_e

Ignorance is not a defence unfortunately, don't waste any more time trying to appeal they've got you by the book.

Originally Posted by agy

Tom, I am not ignorant. I believe I have done everything to comply with the law by checking Wandsworth parking and even calling them personally.

Originally Posted by Red Herring

<snip> If you genuinely thought it was OK to ride on the pavement (or park there) then I seriously suggest you dig out your Highway Code and have another read through it because there are lots and lots of rules and regulations just waiting to trip you up and ignorance is no defence. <snip>

Just want to point out here Agy, they are not calling you 'ignorant', but pointing out that well known adage that ignorance of the law is no defence. i.e. Not knowing what you are doing is against the law does not mean you cannot be prosecuted for it.

No one is calling you names

[shiftin_gear98]

2 cents worth,
Pay the fine and move on with your life.
You posted a thread asking for advise, as many of us have done.
The org hasn't let you down, they have given their vast insight. You just don't seem to like what they have said.


Life sucks. But if we don't learn from it, it sucks even more. At least it's only your bank balance that hurts this time round.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I fully understand the counter argument but we will have to agree to disagree