Ticket paperwork sent late or incomplete
When a penalty charge notice (PCN) is issued for a bus lane or moving traffic offence, the council must follow a strict sequence of steps — PCN, then a follow-up enforcement notice, then further stages — and each must be sent within set time limits and contain certain required information. If the council sent your PCN more than 28 days after the alleged offence was captured on camera, left out required wording, addressed the notice to the wrong person, or failed to tell you about your right to appeal, the ticket may be invalid on procedural grounds.
Legal basis
Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2757) regs.7-13; Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/77); TMA 2004 Schedules 7-9
How to identify this in your case
Check (a) date PCN issued vs date of contravention (typically must be within 28 days for camera-detected), (b) prescribed information present, (c) Notice to Owner / Enforcement Notice served within statutory window after PCN.
Sample appeal wording
Dear Sir/Madam, Re: PCN [NUMBER] I challenge this PCN on procedural grounds. SI 2005/2757 and SI 2022/77 prescribe strict service and content requirements. Defects: - [Late service: PCN dated [X], contravention date [Y], outside statutory window] - [Missing prescribed information: failure to specify time/location; failure to set out grounds of representation] - [Wrong respondent named — registered keeper at the time was [different person]] - [Image attached does not establish contravention] Procedural defect is an express statutory ground of representation/appeal. The PCN must be cancelled. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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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