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#Post#: 113396--------------------------------------------------
Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already parked
in it
By: blueboar Date: March 16, 2026, 7:37 am
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Hi everyone, any and all advice much appreciated - thank you in
advance.
I live on Green Lanes, N4, and have a residents parking permit.
As I live on the main road, there's a bus lane outside the flat
so I have to park away from the house. I often park on an
opposite road where I can see the car in the distance from the
flat front window, but crucially it's too far away to see any
street signs. I cycle to work, and have no need to walk up this
road (Umfreville road) for any other purpose than to collect my
car. I use it about once a month, usually to drive out of
London.
I parked my car on Umfreville road after returning to london
from the new year holiday on 4.1.26. I did not use my car again
for 6 weeks, and when I went to pick it up to drive out of
London again - I had a PCN. The council had suspended the bay
for a single day on 21.1.26, fined me for being parked in the
space, and then un-suspended the bay. I found out three weeks
later on February 13th - obviously too late to pay the cheaper
fine of £80. The suspension signs were (obviously) not displayed
when I parked.
I informally appealed, and was predictably rejected. Rejection
letter is linked here:
HTML https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IKNXMT3MM4Na0ENWU-OurILp4gnpUDS9?usp=sharing
Google maps location :
HTML https://maps.app.goo.gl/jzM1xULYvDCLzgNR8
There's no question about it - the bay was suspended, and I was
parked in it. HOWEVER I have several issues with the application
of this supposed "law":
1) The council quite happily take your money for the residents
permit, but ***do not tell you*** at any point during that
process of signing that your permit can be revoked / overwritten
by a bloke with a magic yellow sign at literally any point in
time.
2) The council claim it is your responsibility to check the bay
your car is parked in is not suspended *every single day* - they
said this multiple times in their rejection letter. Even if you
lived away from a main road and could park outside your front
door, this is impossible and also unenforceable - what if you
need to travel on business (I do frequently), visit family (on
the train), or even just go on holiday ? The council it seems
are only obligated to display signs of a suspension 3 days in
advance, and do not make any other attempt to contact the owners
of the vehicles - despite having all of our addresses/ emails /
phone numbers (required to have a resident permit in the first
place). This means taking ANY trip out of London without your
vehicle that lasts more than four days risks getting a PCN,
which is insane when you've paid for a residents permit!
Living on a main road with a bus lane, and having to park away
from the flat only compounds this problem.
3) If I had been out the country at the time - I feel appealing
and showing evidence of my absence (ie plane tickets) may have
been successful, but logically, there is no difference between
being a) in France for a week and b) in your flat but not
walking past your car...?
I have been served a notice to owner dated 4.3.26 and am trying
to decide whether to appeal it or just give up and pay the £160
(I have two weeks left to do so)
I have found one or two examples of the London tribunals looking
favourably on this sort of situation:
HTML https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/wandsworth-code-21-parked-in-suspended-bay-parking-bay-on-buttermere-drive-sw15/
HTML https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-S6ZiKypHfMtuH-52O6jN3_c50c0tBoN/view
But what do you think? Is this worth an appeal to common sense,
or a lost cause ?
Thank you very much
#Post#: 113399--------------------------------------------------
Re: Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already par
ked in it
By: fraser.mitchell Date: March 16, 2026, 8:42 am
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If you've got the NtO, then there is no point in paying it.
Submit reps on the basis you were parked legally when they
suspended the bay, and were out of the country when the
suspension was announced by the placement of a suspension sign,
otherwise you would have moved your car. If they reject and also
do not re-offer the discount, then it becomes an absolute
no-brainer to take them to London Tribunals, as the penalty
remains the same and there are no additional costs. And, of
course, if you win you pay nothing.
Of course if they re-offer the discount, you can decide whether
to pay it or take the 'double-or-quits' gamble.
It is unwise to leave one's car parked on-street in London
without checking it for suspensions. Councils earn shedloads of
money from PCN penalties, so much in fact, that they could well
afford to email permit holders about forthcoming suspensions.
So why to they not do this ? Well, it is not a statutory duty,
and, of course, they keep all the penalty money, so why do
something that might reduce that.
#Post#: 113405--------------------------------------------------
Re: Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already par
ked in it
By: tincombe Date: March 16, 2026, 9:51 am
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As I read the cases in the link, it is clear that each case
turns on its own facts: the common ground being adequacy of
notice.
Extracting the facts from the council's response shows that they
claim the advance warning notice was erected at 11.01 on 15th
January for a suspension which came into effect less than 6 days
later at 0800(subject to seeing the wording) on 21st.
Have you looked on the council's website for their policy as
regards advance notices?
Where was your car relative to where the sign was placed?
Did the sign have 3 sides, a front and 'wings'?
What is the precise wording of the sign as regards locations?
I would suggest that you reorientate your approach and look at
this as a straightforward suspension: IMO your focus on being
away for an extended period causes the analysis to miss standard
steps.
#Post#: 113407--------------------------------------------------
Re: Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already par
ked in it
By: blueboar Date: March 16, 2026, 10:03 am
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Thank you very much for your replies.
In the pictures of my car that the council provided, the yellow
sign is *not* next to my car but further up the road - they
attach them to the lampposts, and the nearest lamppost here is
about 3 cars (~15m) up the road. Even though the bay I was in
was indeed suspended, there is no sign pictured directly next to
my car. The wording of the sign does clearly show the list of
addresses outside which the bays are suspended (it was quite a
long list) - I was parked outside house 92, which was suspended.
However the nearest sign was outside house 86.
It looks like the sign had at least a front and a side, but the
pictures are quite grainy and I obviously never saw the sign in
person.
#Post#: 113415--------------------------------------------------
Re: Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already par
ked in it
By: tincombe Date: March 16, 2026, 11:21 am
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It looks like the sign had at least a front and a side, but the
pictures are quite grainy and I obviously never saw the sign in
person.
My point is not that you didn't see the sign but whether had you
parked there after 15th the sign was clear enough to have been
noticed anyway. I can't see their letter and the embedded photos
clearly enough to say, but if this is the best that they could
put in front of an adjudicator, what would they see?
Can I leave it to you to research the council's policy for
placing suspension signs.
#Post#: 113418--------------------------------------------------
Re: Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already par
ked in it
By: blueboar Date: March 16, 2026, 11:33 am
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Ahhhh, I understand your argument. This might have some legs.
Unfortunately the Haringey Council guidelines say absolutely
nothing about sign placement other than "three days in advance"
- there's nothing about position of signs, or quantity of signs.
Section 3.15 here:
HTML https://haringey.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-10/haringey-enforcement-code-of-practice.pdf
#Post#: 113448--------------------------------------------------
Re: Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already par
ked in it
By: stamfordman Date: March 16, 2026, 2:17 pm
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I can't see how you can use the sign as you've shot yourself in
the foot by conceding you hadn't checked on the car for weeks?
But some adjudicators will help out by looking at the evidence
afresh.
Anyway the next stage is the NTO - is your logbook up to date?
You can at least hope to recover the discount.
#Post#: 113476--------------------------------------------------
Re: Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already par
ked in it
By: blueboar Date: March 16, 2026, 5:11 pm
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Hi stamfordman, thanks for your reply. Yes, you may well be
right - the honest reason I did not "walk to my car and check
it" during this period however is that I can literally see the
car where it was parked from my front room, so then consequently
didn't feel the need to walk over the main road and up the side
street to said car to check on it.
What I could *not* see from my window however, was the yellow
sign, which was several car-lengths further up the road... and
so began the problem. If there was a yellow sign right next to
my car however, I'm pretty certain I would've seen it, but as it
was further up the road, I couldn't see it from the flat.
To be honest if I had gone over and walked up and down that
street, I would've seen the signs - but the point is that I
could a) see the car from my flat so didn't feel a need to check
on it for "safety of the vehicle or anything b) honestly just
didn't know that I needed to check for bay suspensions in the
first place - so the two combined meant that I didn't return to
the vehicle.
I see the most likely legal ground for appeal here will be on
the visibility of signage, but I'm so frustrated by this whole
proceeding. How can the council reasonably expect people to get
a "car sitter" (like a cat sitter...) when they for example go
on holiday - it literally says on their website that you should
do this. It's one thing getting someone to check on your car,
but asking them to DRIVE IT if a bay suspension occurs in your
absence!?
And re the logbook - yes the v5c is up to date, the car is
registered at this address and I am its owner.
#Post#: 113535--------------------------------------------------
Re: Contravention 21 - Haringey - bay suspended when already par
ked in it
By: stamfordman Date: March 17, 2026, 11:23 am
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Each case turns on its facts and if you were away and could
provide travel proof then cases can be won.
Leaving a car without checking when you can gives you no cover,
and as the length of time increases there is a point where an
adjudicator will reckon you should have checked even if the car
was in situ when the suspension was posted.
In London especially you must check bay signs or even
unrestricted street at least every 3 days or so for impending
suspensions. It's just the way it is.
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