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DfI off-street car park — designation order not in force / tariff not displayed

DfI off-street car parks operate under the Parking Places on Roads and Off-Street Parking Places Order(s) made under Article 32 of the Road Traffic Regulation (NI) Order 1997. Each car park must have a current designation order, and the tariff and conditions must be clearly displayed at the entrance. Where the designation order has lapsed, has been replaced without re-signing, or the tariff board does not match the order in force, a PCN issued in the car park is unenforceable.

Legal basis

Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 Arts 32–34; Parking Places on Roads and Off-Street Parking Places Order(s); Parking Penalty Charge Notices Regulations (NI) 2008

How to identify this in your case

FOI DfI for the current designation order and confirmation of consistency with the tariff board. Photograph the tariff board and entrance signs.

Sample appeal wording

Dear Sir/Madam, Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] — [CAR PARK NAME] Please supply (a) the current designation order under Articles 32–34 of the Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, (b) the date that order took effect, and (c) the tariff and conditions displayed at the entrance on [DATE]. The photograph attached shows the entrance signage; please confirm that this matches the order in force. In default of consistent evidence the PCN is ultra vires and must be cancelled. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.

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 submits it to the council on your behalf. Only pay if you win.

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Sources

  • legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1997/276
  • infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

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