Help - Towed away for parking double yellow on a Sunday

[ams32]

Hi there,

 

I need some advice about appealing agaisn't my car being towed away.

 

We parked on a double yellow line on a Sunday - there were 3 other cars already parked in front of our car. We thought that it was ok as it was Sunday. Also, there wasn't any signs up saying what the restictions were.

 

Anyway, we put our disabled badge in the car anyway just to be on the safe side. We then went to go on the Millenium wheel. But because we had to proove that my son was disabled and that we couldn't put down his pram we had to get the disabled badge out of the car to show them.

 

On the way back to the car we saw our car being towed away.

 

They said that no one can park on that double yellow line 365 days of the year. However, the 3 other cars in front of our car were still there and only one car had a parking ticket.

 

Do you think I have grounds to appeal?

 

Any advice much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Jamberson]

You don't have solid legal grounds to appeal as far as I can see, but I think it's worth it anyway. If I were you I would try and make personal contact with the head of parking and put them in the picture. Your case should be treated with understanding, although it would seem to rely on the council using its discretion.

 

They will tell you double yellows are in force 24/7 - no signs needed. Never leave your car on double yellows without the blue badge!

[green_and_mean]

The Councils often mess up tow away paperwork so that in my opinion is the only likely avenue to explore. DYL are every day of the year unless signed otherwise.

[ams32]

Do you know why they chose our car to be towed away and not tow the 3 cars that were in front of us?

 

Also, can they tow the car straight away or does the PCM have to be on the car for a certain amount of time?

 

Will I just ask for the council to be lienant with me?

 

Thanks

[Jamberson]

Do you know why they chose our car to be towed away and not tow the 3 cars that were in front of us?

 

No idea. I could speculate that they only had one tow truck ready to go, so they did your car first, intending to go back for the others. Or maybe they thought yours was in a more problematic place than the others? Or maybe yours was just easier to access? Impossible to say.

 

Also, can they tow the car straight away or does the PCM have to be on the car for a certain amount of time?

 

Straight away.

 

Will I just ask for the council to be lienant with me?

 

 

I would. G&M suggests checking the paperwork for flaws. Up to you how you play it at the end of the day, but putting scans up here might lead to the discovery of some techincal issue which might invalidate the charges. If you do that, be sure to blank out anything which can identify you or the vehicle.

[ams32]

Hi,

 

My car was towed away as I had parked on a double yellow line, and I am just writing an appeal letter and noticed that the PCN says my car was observed from 15.05 to 15.07 but the 'authorised for removal' sticker that was placed on my car says the time of 15.47.

 

Can I claim that there is a descrepancy with the timings - as the ticket was issued at the same time my car was towed away - but the timings do not suggest that.

 

Also, does anyone know why they didn't come back to tow the other 3 cars that were in front of me - also parked on a double yellow lines. - Is it worth me mentioning this in the appeal letter?

 

Any advice much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Jamberson]

The PCN is issued for the same contravention, but does not have to be issued at the same point in time as the tow.

 

To be honest, you don't have much of a complaint if they allowed the car to stay there for 40 minutes longer than they had to!

 

As to why the other cars were not towed, it would be impossible to say. You can speculate that maybe yours was comsidered in a more problematic location (they don't normally tow for yellow lines unless there's more to it than that) or maybe they had Blue Badges on show? There's no way of knowing without full info.