Appeal of a Bus Lane Ticket which was cancelled
![PANews%20BT_P-444c4d5c-7f77-43fc-b85d-cd4b3176a125_I1[1]](http://pariswells.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PANews20BT_P-444c4d5c-7f77-43fc-b85d-cd4b3176a125_I11-150x150.jpg)
See below the correspondence of a colleague who was able to cancel his bus lane fine, ( Start from the bottom )
Dear xxxxx,
Thank you for your email dated the {DATE}, please accept my apologies for the delay in my reply.
I have now had the opportunity to re-examine your case and I understand that at least one of your e-
mails did not receive a response. As your e-mail was overlooked your case was not placed on hold and a Charge Certificate was posted to you.
This can occasionally happen when emails are sent to me directly rather than through the correctchannel which is Parking Services. However, I would like to apologise for the oversight and assure youthat a safeguard is now in place so that this does not happen again.
I can also confirm that as a result of the overlooked email, the Penalty Charge Notice has been cancelled and no payment is required.
Dear Council,
Thank you for your email. It looks as though xxxxxxxx Council has failed to follow the correct procedure in terms of issuance of notices, hearing appeals and so on.
Therefore I request that this PCN is cancelled.
Kind regards,
Dear xxxxx,
Further to your email dated {DATE}, I must first apologise for the delay in my response.
With reference to the queries you have raised, the appropriate route for these is for you to make formal representations in relation to your case. It seems some parts of our correspondence with you have crossed in the post, so I have arranged for your case to be put back to Enforcement Notice stage (i.e. the stage before Charge Certificate). This will allow you to make formal representations to the Council. You will have a further opportunity for review by appeal to an independent adjudicator should your formal representations result in the PCN being upheld.
I trust this clarifies this matter. Please follow the instructions in the Enforcement Notice in relation to how to make formal representations.
Regards
Dear Council,
On {DATE} I received a Charge Certificate from your department in relation to the above mentioned alleged contravention.
I am slightly confused as the Charge Certificate lists a number of potential reasons for the issuance of the Charge Certificate, none of which seem to be relevant.
The last correspondence was the email from myself to you (included in this chain) on {DATE} and no other correspondence has been received from yourself or your team.
Please could you clarify the reasons for the issuance of the Charge Certificate and why I was never provided with the option to appeal to an adjudicator?
Regards,
Dead Council,
Many thanks for your response.
My concern is that when I initially contacted your team asking for all evidence relating to the alleged contravention, I received what I was led to believe was all evidence held by xxxxx Council.
There was zero evidence within the package of evidence to suggest that the signage for the bus lane was sufficient and if your team are unable to provide such evidence then I do not understand how the penalty can be upheld? There is more than reasonable doubt that at the time of the alleged contravention the signage in place was sufficient.
On this basis, I request that you reconsider your decision.
Kind regards,
Dear xxxxx,
Thank you for your email dated {DATE}, and apologies for the delay in my response.
I note the points made in your email regarding the evidence that was provided in the response letter to your enquiry, and would advise the following.
Your initial request was for evidence held by the Council in relation to the contravention. The evidence provided was correct; it showed the vehicle in question entering the bus lane. The PCN issued specifies the hours of operation of the bus lane and the video footage is timed and dated to show when the vehicle was observed. The evidence provided was of direct relevance to the PCN and the stage of the case at the time of your request.
Our rejection letter to your challenge provided a map that included library photographs only to illustrate the location of the signs and markings. The Council carry out regular checks of the signs and markings and are satisfied that they were in place at the time of the contravention.
The previously issued rejection letter to your challenge dated {DATE} has outlined the statutory appeals process and how to dispute the PCN further if you wish to do so. I have arranged for the case to be placed on hold at the discount amount of £65 for a period of 14 days. Thereafter the case will progress as outlined in your rejection letter.
Dear Council
I write with reference to the letter sent by one of your departments dated {DATE} in response to the informal appeal to the above mentioned PCN.
Prior to the initial appeal I contact this department to request all evidence in support of the alleged contravention. I was supplied with images of the vehicle entering what is alleged to be a bus lane and travelling approximately 15 metres within it. I was provided with no evidence to support any suggestion of when the vehicle left the bus lane, how far it travelled along the bus lane, whether any signage next to the road was sufficient at the time of the alleged contravention and whether any signage on the road was sufficient at the time of the alleged contravention.
Following the informal appeal I have been provided with a map containing images (attached). As this information was not supplied at the time of the request for all evidence, one can reasonably conclude that these images were generated in the time between the appeal and the date of the response from the xxxxx Concil.
Please would you ask that photographic evidence showing the signage related to the alleged bus lane at the time of the alleged contravention (i.e. not some weeks after the event) is supplied to me.
I believe that in order for the driver to make any payment (and indeed admit fault) they must be satisfied that they did breach the regulations and the burden of proof is on the xxxxx Council – as far as I can see from the response, this has not been done.
Regards,
It seem to be all on the council’s side , I was in a bus lane but did not know , continuous white line near the kerb well you could mistake it for a cycle lane , it seems it’s all on the council’s side