Parking fines and enforcement

This is an informal stage of appeal which can be made when you first receive a parking fine (Penalty Charge Notice).

You should either complete an online form or put your objection in writing and send it to the address on the back of the Penalty Charge Notice.

Please note the online form can only be used to make an objection. If you wish to make a representation you must wait until you receive a Notice to Owner form and complete this document.

Your case will be investigated and considered in-line with the council’s agreed procedures. We will write to you with our decision.

If your objection is accepted the PCN will be cancelled. If it is rejected you have the option to pay, (if your objection was received within 14 days of the PCN issue date then you will be given a further 14 days to pay at the reduced rate of £25 or £35), or wait for the Notice to Owner to make a formal representation. The discounted rate will not apply if payment is made after this 14 day period or if you choose to make a formal representation.

This is a formal stage of appeal which can only be made after receiving a ‘Notice to Owner’. The ‘Notice to Owner’ is sent to the owner/keeper of the vehicle registered at DVLA (regardless of who was driving). You can opt to pay the charge at this stage or you may wish to make a representation.

Your case must be put in writing using the Notice to Owner form and will be considered by an independent officer at the council. We will respond to formal representations within 56 days from the date of receipt. Where we do not respond within 56 days your penalty charge notice will be cancelled.

Representations should be made on one of the statutory grounds below. If none of these grounds apply to your case you can still make representations to the council and ask them to take mitigating circumstances into account.

If your representation is rejected by us you can appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT).

The adjudicators are experienced lawyers who are independent of the enforcement authority and they will consider your case on one of the eight grounds listed above. Their decision will be final. Appeals cannot be made to the TPT unless the owner has first made a formal representation to the enforcement authority.

Appeals can be decided either by post or in person. A personal hearing centre is available in Scunthorpe and also at a number of other towns and cities throughout the country. There is no charge to the appellant for submitting an appeal to the TPT.

Further information about the TPT can be found on the Traffic Penalty Tribunal website. If you lose your appeal and do not pay or ignore the Notice to Owner you will be sent a charge certificate which increases the original charge by 50 per cent to either £75 or £105 depending on the contravention which had occurred. There are no rights of appeal at this stage of the process.

If you still do not pay, the charge will be registered as a debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court and ultimately a warrant will be issued to bailiffs who will add their own costs to the penalty charge.

The council is a member of the Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London (PATROL) Adjudication Joint Committee. The Joint Committee publishes an Annual Statement of Accounts which is subject to external audit. The arrangements and latest timetable can be found on the PATROL website.