Thank you so much for your helpful response, I will give it a go as I have nothing to lose and feel that the fine is some what unfair.

I have received a local authority parking ticket, I had purchased the correct ticket and put it on my dash (there is no adhesive on the tickets in my area) but it had blown off when I shut the door. I appealed and sent a letter with the paid ticket as evidence, their response was a ten page letter with pictures of my car, quoting bylaw blah and blah - basically they said because it was not displayed the fine stood. I responded with a letter of dispute but paid the £25 fine as I knew they would find a way of further penalizing me! Guess what, I received my cheque back today saying that they had received it after the 14 days(I don't have proof of postage) and now it is £50!! I am really aggrieved, what is likely to happen if I tell them I am not paying and they can take me to court?