Two PCNs issued for the same offence, car not moved

If you receive two or more penalty charge notices (PCNs) for the same offence, at the same location, within the same controlled parking period or the same 24-hour period, and your vehicle was not moved between them, the council's own code of practice says all but one PCN should be cancelled. The same rule applies if a single parking event broke more than one restriction — only one PCN should be issued, for the more serious offence. This is council policy, not a legal right, so the second PCN can still stand if your vehicle was moved and re-parked, the PCNs were issued on different days or in different controlled-hours periods, or they are for genuinely different offences.

Legal basis

Code of Practice on Civil Parking Enforcement (London Councils model code; adopted by the London boroughs and mirrored in local authority codes elsewhere) — provision on multiple PCNs for the same contravention issued to a vehicle that has not been moved ("cancel all but one PCN"), and the single-PCN-per-parking-event rule where more than one restriction is contravened. Policy/guidance under the Traffic Management Act 2004 civil parking enforcement framework; not primary legislation.

How to identify this in your case

Is this you? You have two or more PCNs for the same vehicle, the same location, and the same offence code, issued on the same day or within the same controlled parking period — and you did not move the vehicle in between. Check that the PCN numbers, dates and times, location, and offence codes all match before using this ground. It happens most often to delivery drivers, tradespeople, and fleet vehicles ticketed by different wardens at the same spot.

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 have received more than one Penalty Charge Notice for the same vehicle, at the same location, for the same contravention, within the same period of controlled hours, and the vehicle was not moved between the notices. Under the Code of Practice on Civil Parking Enforcement, where two or more PCNs are issued for the same contravention to a vehicle that has not been moved, it is established practice to cancel all but one. A single continuous act of parking is one contravention and cannot lawfully attract multiple penalties. I therefore request that all but one of the following PCNs be cancelled: [LIST PCN NUMBERS]. Please confirm in writing which notice will stand and that the remainder are cancelled.

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket, drafts a properly-cited appeal letter, and sends it for you where the council takes email — guiding you through their own online form where they use one, so you press submit. The win fee is only charged if you win.

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Sources

This is enforcement policy, not legislation. There is no single published code that binds every UK authority — the widely-adopted model is the London Councils Code of Practice on Civil Parking Enforcement, and authorities outside London publish their own equivalents. Ask the issuing authority for its published enforcement policy and the provision on multiple notices; it must be able to produce it.
Traffic Management Act 2004, Part 6 — the civil enforcement framework the policy sits under (it does not itself address duplicate notices):
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/18/contents