(PAS Case No. 2000402077)

The Penalty Charge Notice issued to the appellant’s car alleged that the vehicle was ‘parked without clearly displaying a valid permit or pay and display ticket’. The facts were that the appellant had bought a ticket and displayed it on the windscreen. The ticket would not have expired by the time the PCN was issued. The ticket was missing by the time the appellant returned. He explained that his ‘kit’ car had no side windows, and assumed that the ticket must have been removed by a mischievous third party. The Council asserted that ‘it is the responsibility of the driver of the vehicle to ensure that the vehicle is parked in accordance with the parking regulations at all times. The Traffic Management Order (TMO) section 6 states: 'at all times during which the vehicle is left in a parking place during the permitted hours the driver shall cause to be displayed a valid ticket so that the date of issue, time of expiry and the charge paid in the case of a ticket, are readily visible from the front or near side of the vehicle.’ The notice on the ticket machine contained various items of information, such as the hours when payment was due, the tariff and the words ‘Penalty Charge for failure to comply with Conditions of Use £80’. A list headed ‘Conditions of Use’ stated: ‘During controlled hours it is an offence to: 1 Park without payment and display of ticket 2 Transfer tickets between vehicles 3 Remain parked after expiry of paid period’

 

The Adjudicator referred to Burnett -v- Buckinghamshire County Council (PAS Case No. HIW0003) in which the Adjudicator, Mr Hickinbottom, decided that ‘...any regulation by a local authority under its powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 must be signed so that the motoring public knows of that regulation.’ The Adjudicator found that the particular provision of the TMO which the Council sought to enforce was not so signed. Reasonable motorists would read the words ‘park without payment and display of ticket’ as requiring them to display a ticket at the point when they park and leave the vehicle. The words were not adequate to convey to readers of the notice that if, after they have complied with that condition, the ticket is removed without their permission, falls down or in some way its details cease to be visible, then liability will arise even where the ticket has not expired. Where a substantial penalty will be imposed, a specific warning must appear to make motorists aware of the importance of taking every possible step to ensure that the ticket remains visible at all times. The Adjudicator recognised that in the case of a car such as the appellant’s that might present practical difficulties, but he must at least be put on notice of the risk he runs.

 

Appeal allowed.