PCN not validly served / deemed-service miscount (out of time)
A London bus-lane or moving-traffic camera PCN served BY POST is deemed served in the ordinary course of post (Interpretation Act 1978 s.7) — around two working days after posting, unless the contrary is proved — not on the date printed on it. Where a statutory period that runs FROM SERVICE is involved, an authority that counts it from the print date can get the timing wrong (e.g. rejecting an in-time representation as late, or escalating before a service-linked period closed). Stated precisely: this applies to periods the regulations calculate from the date of SERVICE; some periods (e.g. payment/discount) are instead calculated from the date of the NOTICE, so check which period is in play before relying on deemed service.
Legal basis
Interpretation Act 1978, s.7 (service by post deemed effected "at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post", unless the contrary is proved) — as the deemed-service timing rule; TRIGGERED by: London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003, Sch 1 para 9 ("Service by post" — notices under s.4, penalty charges for road-traffic/moving-traffic contraventions, "may be served by post") for moving-traffic camera PCNs; and London Local Authorities Act 1996, Sch 1 para 12 ("Service by post" — Part II bus-lane notices "may be served by post") for bus-lane camera PCNs. Glasgow City Council v Upper Tribunal for Scotland [2025] CSIH REMOVED entirely (adverse authority).
How to identify this in your case
Take the notice's printed date, add 2 working days = deemed service date. Recount every deadline (discount, 28-day payment, charge-certificate eligibility) from that date. If the council counted from the print date and that is what makes a step look in-time, the arithmetic is wrong.
Sample appeal wording
formal
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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