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HGV Area Parking Ban — Requires Weight-Symbol Plate and END Sign (art.38)

Article 38 of S.I. 182/1997 prohibits parking of heavy vehicles in an area only where RUS 019 is provided AT THE ENTRANCE to the area with an information plate containing a large-vehicle symbol and the weight threshold; the END of the prohibition must be marked by RUS 019 with a plate containing the symbol and the word END/CRIOCH. A 30-minute loading exemption applies (art.38(1)(b)). Missing entrance signage, no weight specified, or no END plate creates uncertainty about the controlled area and grounds a challenge. Relevant to fleet/commercial vehicles.

Legal basis

Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 (S.I. 182/1997) art.38(1)-(2).

How to identify this in your case

Commercial vehicle ticketed in an HGV-ban area: photograph the area entrance signs (is the weight stated? the symbol present?) and check for the END/CRIOCH plate marking the boundary. Was the vehicle's unladen weight actually above the stated threshold? Was it loading (30-min exemption)?

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.

The art.38 HGV prohibition was not validly signed at the entrance (RUS 019 + weight/symbol information plate defective or absent), or the vehicle was within the 30-minute loading exemption (art.38(1)(b)). A missing or defective END/CRIOCH plate may also make the extent of the restricted area unprovable at the vehicle's position.

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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.

HGV Area Parking Ban — Requires Weight-Symbol Plate and END Sign (art.38)

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps