Red route bay that is not open for parking or loading at all red route hours must be marked in red - ask the authority to show the bay's markings as they were
On a red route, a bay (a box marked on the road with a sign beside it) can let you stop at certain times or for certain uses. The law says that where such a bay is NOT open for parking or loading for part or all of the hours the red route operates, the lines marking out the bay, and any words painted in it, must be red. A London Tribunals adjudicator allowed an appeal where a bay like that had no red markings at all, finding that the restriction had not been made clear to the driver. That decision is an example, not a binding rule, and a bay that is open at all red route hours has no such requirement. If your ticket was for stopping in or beside a red route bay, ask the authority for photographs of the bay's markings as they were, and check whether they were red where they had to be.
Legal basis
Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (S.I. 2016/362), Schedule 7, Part 5, paragraph 5, read at legislation.gov.uk on 9 October 2026: "The marks forming the boundary of the bay and any legend must be coloured red when placed on a red route, but only where the bay is not available for parking or loading during part of, or all of, the times of operation of the red route." Hatfield v Transport for London (ETA 2170566611), a London Tribunals key case: the adjudicator held that paragraph 5 is a required variant which the permissive paragraph 2(3) of Part 5 does not displace, and allowed the appeal for a bay that was not available for parking or loading during part of the red route hours and was not marked in red. That is an adjudicator's decision: persuasive, not binding. Hatfield summarises R (Herron & Parking Appeals Ltd) v The Parking Adjudicator [2011] EWCA Civ 905 as holding that signs and markings must substantially comply with the specification and should not mislead or fail to inform the motorist; Herron is cited here only as Hatfield states it.
How to identify this in your case
Only for a code 46 ticket for stopping in or beside a bay (a box marked on the road, with a sign beside it) on a red route. Read the sign by the bay: is the bay open for parking or loading at all the hours the red route operates? If it is not, the bay's outline and any words in it must be red. Were they? Take photographs of the bay and its sign if you can go back. If the bay is open at all red route hours, this ground does not apply.
Sample appeal wording
Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at.
Please send me photographs of the bay and its markings at this location as they were on the date of this penalty charge, and tell me whether the bay is available for parking or loading at all times the red route operates. If it is not, paragraph 5 of Part 5 of Schedule 7 to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 requires the marks forming its boundary and any legend to be coloured red. If they were not, the restriction was not adequately shown and the penalty charge should be cancelled.
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