Council Failed to Provide Full Video Evidence
If the council is relying on camera footage, you have a specific statutory right to see the evidence, and it is worth asking for exactly what the law gives rather than more. Which regulation gives you this depends on where the ticket came from. IN ENGLAND it is regulation 3(3) of the 2022 appeals regulations, and it applies to an approved-device notice — a penalty charge notice served on the basis of a camera record. IN WALES it is regulation 3(5) of the 2013 Welsh appeals regulations, on the same kind of camera-based notice. Under either you may ask in writing for one of two things: to view the recording at one of the council's offices, free of charge, at a time in normal office hours that you specify — you or someone representing you — or to be sent, free of charge, the still images from that recording which in the council's opinion establish the contravention. The council must comply with the request within a reasonable time — regulation 3(4) in England, regulation 3(6) in Wales. Note what that does not include: there is no right to be sent a copy of the recording. But the choice between the two is YOURS — the regulation lets you ask for either, and requires the council to comply with the request you make; the council's opinion decides only which stills it sends if you ask for stills. If the images you are sent do not show the contravention, say so and ask for the office viewing instead — regulation 3(3)(a) in England, regulation 3(5)(a) in Wales. That is usually the stronger request, because you see the whole record the penalty was based on rather than the frames the council picked. If the council produces nothing at all, say that squarely at appeal: the burden of establishing the contravention is on the authority, and it is decided on the evidence actually produced. Which tribunal depends on where you are — the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for England outside London and for Wales, London Tribunals for the London boroughs.
Legal basis
The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/576), regulation 3(3): the recipient of an approved device notice may by notice in writing request that the enforcement authority "(a) makes available, at one of its offices specified by R, free of charge and at a time during normal office hours so specified, for viewing by R or R's representative the record of the alleged relevant road traffic contravention produced by the approved device pursuant to which the penalty charge was imposed, or (b) provides R, free of charge, with such still images from that record as, in the authority's opinion, establish the alleged relevant road traffic contravention". Regulation 3(4): "The enforcement authority must comply with any request under paragraph (3) within a reasonable time." On those words the election between (a) and (b) is the RECIPIENT's: R requests (a) or (b), and paragraph (4) requires the authority to comply with any request made under paragraph (3). The authority's opinion is expressly confined to the selection of stills under limb (b). There is no entitlement to be sent a copy of the recording, nor to an operator log; limb (a) is a right to VIEW the record produced by the approved device pursuant to which the penalty charge was imposed, which is not the same as everything the authority holds about the case. Beyond that statutory right, the position is evidential rather than statutory: the burden of establishing the contravention rests on the enforcement authority, and an appeal is determined on the evidence actually produced. Footage in which the data subject is identifiable is also personal data, and Article 15 of the UK GDPR provides a right of access to it — a parallel route with its own timescales, not the parking-specific one. That general right is Article 15, NOT section 45 of the Data Protection Act 2018: section 45 is the access right in that Act's law-enforcement-processing regime, which reaches a competent authority processing for the law enforcement purposes, and civil parking enforcement is not automatically processing of that kind. WALES: regulation 3(5) and 3(6) of the Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/359) are the Welsh equivalent, in the same structure — the recipient requests the viewing or the stills, and the authority must comply within a reasonable time.
How to identify this in your case
Your ticket came from a camera and you want to see the evidence. Ask in writing under the regulation for your nation — regulation 3(3) of the 2022 appeals regulations in England, regulation 3(5) of the 2013 Welsh appeals regulations in Wales, each applying to a notice served on the basis of a camera record — and ask for the right thing: either a viewing of the recording at one of the council's offices, free, at a time you specify in office hours — or the stills the council says establish the contravention. You choose which of the two you ask for, and the council must comply with the request you make; its opinion decides only which stills it sends if stills are what you asked for. Do not demand a copy of the whole file or an operator log: neither is something the regulation provides, and holding out for them can leave you refusing the viewing you are entitled to. If the stills do not show the contravention, ask for the office viewing instead. If nothing comes at all, say so at appeal.
Beat It is not using this argument right now
We are not using this particular argument at the moment — we are checking the law it relies on, and we would rather say so than put a point in your letter that we are not sure of. Scan your ticket anyway: the engine looks for every other ground that fits your notice.
Scan my ticketSources
- The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/576), regulation 3(3) and 3(4)
- The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/359), regulation 3(5) and 3(6)
- Traffic Penalty Tribunal Procedure Rules
- UK GDPR Article 15 (the general right of access to your own personal data — the parallel route, not the parking one)
- Data Protection Act 2018 s.45 (the access right in that Act's law-enforcement-processing regime, which applies only where a competent authority is processing for the law enforcement purposes)
Related appeal grounds
- Aberdeen Clean Air Zone ticket issued too early
- Appealing a Scottish tribunal's legal error to a higher tribunal
- Attorney acting for keeper under Scottish power of attorney
- Bailiff acted without proper advance warning notice
- Bath CAZ — Sunset Period for Pre-Registered Commercial Vehicles
- Bay Obstructed or Too Small — Could Not Park Within the Bay Markings