What to do if you receive a
Penalty Charge Notice
Part II of the Road Traffic Act 1991 enables local authorites to take over most parking enforcement from the Police, including yellow line enforcement.
Under the Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA 2004) Decriminalised Parking Enforcement will become known as Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) from 31 March 2008. and in recognision of their wider remit, Parking Attendants will become known as Civil Enforcement Officers (CEO’s).
Parking tickets are known as Penalty Charge Notices (PCN’s) and are processed by the Local Authority. Enforcement does not take place in the Magistrates Court as PCN’s are enforced through the Civil Justice System, rather than the Criminal Justice System.
It is in your interests to fully understand:
- Why you have been issued with a PCN
- How to respond correctly
- Whether you have valid grounds to make representations to the council
- How to make an appeal to the independent Parking Adjudicator if your initial representations to the council are rejected.
Other types of ticket
Apart from Penalty Charge Notices issued under the Road Traffic Act 1991, there are a number of different types of parking ticket. These can be divided into two main categories:
- Parking tickets issued by a police officer or traffic warden.
These are known as Fixed Penalty Notices and are processed by the local Central Ticket Office. Enforcement takes place in the local Magistrates Court.
LCC Notice Processing Centre DOES NOT accept Fixed Penalty Charges or any other parking ticket issued by the police.
- Penalty Charge Notices issued by local authorities.
Some local authorities issue parking tickets in their car parks and in metered or pay and display bays on the street. These are commonly known as “Excess Charge Notices” or “Standard Charge Notices”. They are processed by the local authority and enforcement takes place in the local Magistrates Court.
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