CCTV clock was wrong at the time

The camera that recorded your alleged offence must keep accurate time. If its clock was wrong — for example, out of step with GPS time or with other footage recorded at the same moment — then the time shown on your ticket may also be wrong. If the time is wrong, the council may not be able to prove the restriction was actually in force when you were there, or may not be able to match the footage to your vehicle through DVLA records.

Legal basis

Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices) Regulations 2022; data accuracy requirements under DPA 2018; standard of proof

How to identify this in your case

Compare the timestamp on the PCN with any independent time reference you have (your own CCTV, dashcam, phone records). Request the camera's maintenance log including time synchronisation records. If there is a discrepancy, challenge the accuracy of the evidence.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

Dear Representations Team, Re: PCN [NUMBER] — Timestamp Accuracy Challenge I formally challenge this PCN on the basis that the CCTV camera's timestamp is inaccurate. I have independent evidence (dashcam footage / phone records / [other]) showing that at the time the camera recorded [stated time], the actual time was [actual time]. I formally request: 1. The camera's time synchronisation records for the period including the date of the alleged contravention 2. The maintenance log confirming the camera's clock accuracy If timestamps cannot be verified as accurate, the evidential basis of this PCN is undermined and it must be cancelled. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket, drafts a properly-cited appeal letter, and sends it for you where the council takes email — guiding you through their own online form where they use one, so you press submit. The win fee is only charged if you win.

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Sources

Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices) Regulations 2022
Data Protection Act 2018 s.35 (data accuracy)