Thaks for your reply, my grounds were that the machine was out of order and therefor I was UNABLE to pay for the parking in the machine, the machine had nothing to say, find alternative methods or park elsewhere, the grounds for out of time was that I never received the original PCN or any reminders from the council, only a visit from the bailiff over unpaid items.

Sorry about that, its my first time doing this. I sent form TE9 to the TEC in November 2011along with form TE7 for an out of time extension, I was informed that ALL bailiff action was on hold at this point and the bill stood at £129.00 I received a letter from Nothampton CC saying "REFUSED" along with an email from West Berks saying "The council wishes to opppose this apllication and will submit a statement by the required date" I did nothing at this point as I was awaiting the "statement by required date" Next thing i got was another bailiff visit now the fee had gone from £129 to £417 plus contractor costs. I then spoke to the Local Council and was informed that there was another machine to pay at and it was all my own doing etc etc. At this point I had the option to appeal to a judge or have a hearing, this is where I am today.

Hello guys, this is my first post so please be gentle with me. I have read some of the threads about parking and private companies, I am in a predicament with the Local Council. I parked in Dec 2010 in a public car park where the machine wasnt working, there was no signage to say "find atlernative mahine" or "do not park" etc. We are now year on and I have a bill for £475, I have appealed to the TEC and go nowhere, I have photographic evidence of the big green cover saying "machine out of order" I have now decided to take this in front of a magistrate at a cost of £80, the hearing is this week. What shoud I do? What grounds do I have? Am I at a loss? Can the bailiffs charge me this much for a £25 fine? I have lots more info if anyone has any specific questions. Russ