Home / Advice / Mersey Gateway / Silver Jubilee Bridge — payment via Merseyflow account allocation error

proceduralUK · EnglandDifficulty: easy

Mersey Gateway / Silver Jubilee Bridge — payment via Merseyflow account allocation error

Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee Bridge are operated under contract by Merseyflow. Tolls must be paid by midnight the day after crossing. Common errors: account didn't auto-replenish, top-up not yet applied to crossing, plate misread by ANPR, multi-vehicle account allocated to wrong plate. Appeals are first internal then to Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

Legal basis

The Mersey Gateway Bridge and the A533 (Silver Jubilee Bridge) Roads User Charging Scheme Order 2017 — a road user charging scheme order made by Halton Borough Council under Part III of the Transport Act 2000 and published by the council rather than on legislation.gov.uk; Transport Act 2000 ss.163-177 (the charging power and its limits); Road User Charging Schemes (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1783), which govern the penalty charge, the representations and the appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

How to identify this in your case

Bank or Merseyflow account ledger showing payment within the deadline. ANPR image showing plate clearly to compare with PCN.

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 Sir/Madam (Merseyflow Enforcement), Re: PCN [NUMBER] — Crossing [DATE] — Vehicle [REG] I challenge this PCN. Payment for the crossing on [DATE] was made within the deadline. - Crossing: [DATE/TIME], [Direction] - Payment: £[AMOUNT] paid on [DATE/TIME] via [Merseyflow account / one-off card payment / app] - Account/Reference: [REF] Payment evidence attached. Under the Mersey Gateway Bridge and the A533 (Silver Jubilee Bridge) Roads User Charging Scheme Order 2017 and the Road User Charging Schemes (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1783), no contravention occurred where the charge was paid in time. The PCN must be cancelled. If rejected, I will appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and request inspection of the matching logs. 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.

Scan my ticket

Mersey Gateway / Silver Jubilee Bridge — payment via Merseyflow account allocation error

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps