Just to add a little insult to injury ... today I got on the 257 bus just outside Maryland Station. Two female members of the honourable travelling community got on, dressed in their usual 'ethnic' garb. They waved their Oyster cards about as if they were paper travelcards, never even thinking about touching in. The driver stared straight ahead, gripping the steering wheel so tight I thought he'd break it, gritting his teeth as these freeloading **** helped themselves to a free ride. He is obviously under instruction to allow this - why else would he have ignored such a blatant breach of the rules? So, there you go, Angusg and all the other honest, straightforward users of TFL's network who get hammered for making simple, innocent mistakes - get yourself some gypsy garb and pretend you don't speak English. Free travel for you!

I have already appealed to the IRCAS Appeal people (which is in no way independent of IRCAS, obviously) and got a word processed letter denying the appeal. It does not refer to my grounds for appeal, i.e. the ticket is invalid because it is not a legal document. I am now going to appeal to 2nd Docklands Appeal, which is independent and may even read the documents I send them and consider the grounds for appeal. What I want to know is this : somewhere, someone has a written guide to completion of Penalty Fare Notices that specifically states that if an error is made the ticket must be cancelled, crossed 'VOID', and a new ticket completed and issued. This comes from a senior police office who knows whereof he speaks. I want to know the chapter and verse of the rulebook used by IRCAS and DLR please! What is the name of the regulations, what paragraph, clause, etc etc. do I quote? Someone must know!

The 'people' I was referring to are the IRCAS Appeal people. They have denied my first appeal without even referring to my grounds for appeal against the ticket. i.e. it is invalid as it is a legal document and has not been correctly completed per IRCAS and TfL regulations. What I need to do is quote those regulations - the actual rules they have to follow when completing a penalty fare notice. This must be down in writing somewhere! None of the links on this forum relate to that. Any suggestions?

I was recently issued a penalty fare notice on the DLR after forgetting to touch in at Royal Albert DLR. The ticket inspector starting writing my name down on the notice, copying it from my ID, then realised he had misspelled my name. (He didn't seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed, I must say.) He scribbled out the misspelling and started again, so the ticket now has a large scribbled blob where my surname should be, followed by my surname spelled correctly. As a Penalty fare Notice is a legal document and cannot be altered or amended I believe this makes the ticket invalid. I will be sending in my appeal against the ticket in the next few days but if anyone can quote me rules and regultaions - you know how these people love their rules and regulations - it would help a lot. Incidentally, I sent a postal order to IRCAS to pay the correct fare and they have cashed it.