Scottish LEZ ticket issued too late
In Scotland's Low Emission Zone scheme, a penalty charge notice (PCN — the official fine notice) must be sent to you within 28 days of the date you were detected driving in the zone. There is only one exception: if the council asked the DVLA for your vehicle's registered keeper details within 14 days of detecting you, and the DVLA had not replied by the end of that 28-day window, the council gets a further 14 days from the moment the DVLA does reply. Outside these windows the council has no power to issue the ticket.
Legal basis
SSI 2021/177 reg 6(2); Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 s.7; reg 8(4)(a)
How to identify this in your case
Compare 'detection date' on PCN with 'date of issue/served date'. If served more than 28 days later and PCN does not state DVLA enquiries delayed service, the PCN is out of time.
Sample appeal wording
Dear [COUNCIL] LEZ Team, Re: Penalty Charge Notice [PCN_NUMBER], Vehicle [VRN], Detection Date [DETECTION_DATE] I make formal representations under reg 8(1) of SSI 2021/177 against the imposition of this penalty. Ground: reg 8(4)(a) — the alleged contravention did not occur in law because the PCN was not validly served. 1. Detection date: [DETECTION_DATE] 2. PCN served on me: [SERVED_DATE] — [N] days after detection, exceeding the 28-day period in reg 6(2). 3. The PCN does not state the council was awaiting 'relevant information' from the Secretary of State under reg 6(3); my keeper details have been correctly registered with DVLA throughout. The council had no statutory power to serve this PCN. Please cancel under reg 9(2) and confirm in writing within 14 days. If you decline I will appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (General Regulatory Chamber) under reg 10. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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Scan my ticketSources
- legislation.gov.uk (SSI 2021/177)
- Transport (Scotland) Act 2019
Related appeal grounds
- Aberdeen Clean Air Zone ticket issued too early
- Appealing a Scottish tribunal's legal error to a higher tribunal
- Attorney acting for keeper under Scottish power of attorney
- Bailiff acted without proper advance warning notice
- Bath CAZ — Sunset Period for Pre-Registered Commercial Vehicles
- Bay Obstructed or Too Small — Could Not Park Within the Bay Markings