Yellow box markings don't meet the required standard
A yellow box junction only works if the marking actually tells a driver at the junction what the restriction is. The thing worth checking is whether it does: paint so faded or worn that the criss-cross cannot be clearly seen, or a marking so incomplete that the box is not apparent. Be careful not to over-read the rules, though, because two things people commonly challenge are expressly permitted. The overall shape and size of the marking may be varied as appropriate within the dimensions shown, and parts of the boundary line may be left out where the edge of the marking meets a raised kerb. So a box that is an unusual shape, or that has a gap in its border at a kerb, is not for that reason defective. What can succeed is that the marking, taken as it was on the day, did not convey the prohibition to you.
Legal basis
Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (S.I. 2016/362) Schedule 9: item 25 of the sign table in Part 6 (diagram 1043, the yellow criss-cross marking) and Part 7 paragraph 11, under which that marking 'conveys the prohibition that a person must not cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of stationary vehicles'; Traffic Management Act 2004 Part 6 and Schedule 7 paragraph 8(1)(a) (moving traffic contravention — an offence under s.36 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 of failing to comply with the indication given by a traffic sign subject to civil enforcement), read with Schedule 7 paragraph 8A, whose Table A lists "Marking conveying the requirements in paragraph 11 of Part 7 of Schedule 9 (box junction)" at diagram 1043 (Schedule 9, Part 6, item 25) as a sign subject to civil enforcement in England; Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 s.64 (general provisions as to traffic signs) and s.65 (powers and duties of traffic authorities as to placing of traffic signs); R (Herron and Parking Appeals Ltd) v The Parking Adjudicator [2011] EWCA Civ 905 at 35 to 38, 43 and 48 (enforceability requires adequate notice of the restriction; the test is substantial compliance judged by whether the motorist was adequately informed at the place of the alleged contravention, not strict compliance)
How to identify this in your case
Go to the junction and photograph the marking twice: once from a driver’s eye line on the approach you used, and once from a higher angle if you safely can, so the state of the paint is visible. Judge it by whether the criss-cross could be seen and understood as a box junction from the driving position — faded, worn, dirty or heavily patched paint is the strongest fact. Do not measure the hatching or the box and argue it differs from a diagram: the regulations let the overall shape and size be varied as appropriate, and let parts of the boundary line be omitted next to a raised kerb, so a dimensional mismatch is usually not a defect at all. If you think there is a genuine unpermitted departure, say precisely what it is rather than asserting non-compliance generally.
Sample appeal wording
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.
Dear Sir or Madam, Re: PCN [NUMBER] — box junction — [LOCATION] — [DATE] I make representations against the above penalty charge notice. The prohibition at a box junction is conveyed by the marking itself. Paragraph 11 of Part 7 of Schedule 9 to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 provides that the yellow criss-cross marking at item 25 of the sign table in Part 6 conveys the prohibition on entering the box junction so as to have to stop within it because of stationary vehicles. It follows that the marking has to be present, and legible enough, to convey that prohibition to a driver at the junction. My case is that it did not. On [DATE] the marking at this junction was as follows: [Describe only what your photographs actually show, and delete the rest: the paint was faded or worn so that the criss-cross could not be clearly seen from the driving position / the marking was obscured by [surface dirt / roadworks patching / standing water] / so much of the marking was missing that the box was not apparent as a box junction.] [Attach your photographs, state the date and time each was taken, and say where you were standing or driving.] I am not suggesting that the marking had to match a diagram exactly. Paragraph 5 of Part 8 of Schedule 9 permits the overall shape and size of the marking to be varied as appropriate within the dimensions shown, and permits parts of a boundary line to be omitted where the edge of the marking is adjacent to a raised kerb. My point is the different one that, as it actually was on the day, this marking did not convey the prohibition to me. Applying R (Herron and Parking Appeals Ltd) v The Parking Adjudicator [2011] EWCA Civ 905 at paragraphs 35 to 37, enforceability depends on adequate notice of the restriction having been given to the road user, judged by substantial compliance rather than perfection. On these facts adequate notice was not given. I ask you to cancel this penalty charge notice. Yours faithfully, [YOUR NAME] [YOUR ADDRESS]
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