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Scotland double-parking ticket — part of the vehicle was within 50 centimetres of the edge of the road

Scotland's double parking ban is a distance test, not a test of whether another vehicle was beside you: it is broken only when no part of the vehicle is within 50 centimetres of the edge of the carriageway, and the Act says exactly where that edge is measured from. If you were parked along the kerb, a verge or a solid white edge line, this argument asks the council for the measurement or photographs behind its finding. Do not argue that you were not next to another car: that is not part of the test.

Legal basis

Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 section 54(1): "A person must not park a motor vehicle on a carriageway in such a way that no part of the vehicle is within 50 centimetres of the edge of a carriageway". Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 section 54(5): "“edge of a carriageway” means— where the edge of the carriageway is marked by a painted solid white line, the edge of the painted line furthest from the centre of the carriageway, where the edge of the carriageway is not marked by a painted solid white line and is bounded by a kerb, the edge of the kerb closest to the centre of the carriageway, in any other case, where the surface of the carriageway meets the verge of the carriageway". Parking Prohibitions (Enforcement and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/373) regulation 10(4)(a). Read at legislation.gov.uk (latest available text) on 2026-09-09.

How to identify this in your case

Use this if you were parked along the kerb, a verge or a solid white edge line, not out in the running lane. Photograph the vehicle's position against the kerb or line if you can. Whether another vehicle was parked beside you does not matter to this ban, so do not argue that point.

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.

I make representations under regulation 10(1) of the Parking Prohibitions (Enforcement and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 on the ground in regulation 10(4)(a) that the alleged contravention did not occur. Section 54(1) of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 prohibits parking on a carriageway "in such a way that no part of the vehicle is within 50 centimetres of the edge of a carriageway". Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 section 54(5) defines the edge of a carriageway as: where marked by a painted solid white line, the edge of the painted line furthest from the centre of the carriageway; where not so marked and bounded by a kerb, the edge of the kerb closest to the centre of the carriageway; and in any other case, where the surface of the carriageway meets the verge. The vehicle was parked [alongside the kerb / alongside the verge / alongside the edge line] at [LOCATION]; photographs are attached. The authority is asked to produce the measurement or photographs on which it relies for its finding that no part of the vehicle was within 50 centimetres of that edge, identifying which limb of section 54(5) it treated as the edge. If the authority holds no such evidence, I ask that the enforcement notice be cancelled under regulation 11(2).

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Sources

Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, sections 54(1) and 54(5)
Parking Prohibitions (Enforcement and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/373), regulation 10(4)(a)