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Bus Lane contraventions captured via CCTV - PCN Appeal Process

On receipt of a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) your next steps are as follows:

  • Pay the PCN at the discounted rate within 14 days; or
  • Pay the PCN at the full rate within 28 days; or
  • Dispute your PCN by making an informal challenge in writing explaining why you feel the PCN was incorrectly issued.
  • If you do not pay or challenge the PCN within 28 days you will be issued with an Enforcement Notice.

Please be aware that you cannot pay your PCN and then make an informal challenge.  If you pay the PCN, then you are accepting that you committed the contravention.  The case will then be closed and we will not accept any challenges made against the issuing of the PCN.

Informal challenge process

If you wish to object or appeal against your PCN you can make an informal challenge at any time within the first 28 days after the PCN has been served.  By law, your informal challenge must be in writing, which can be by e-mail or by sending a letter in the post. 

In your letter or e-mail please remember to:

  • Tell us as much as you can about your reasons for believing the PCN should be cancelled (please ensure that you have first read the guidance on the reasons that will not be accepted)
  • Provide us with all the evidence you have to support your claim.  This might be documentary evidence for example that your vehicle had broken down due to a mechanical fault.  It is recommended that you send only copies and retain the originals yourself.
  • Include your name and address and the PCN number (the 10 character reference number found on the top left hand corner of your PCN). If you don’t have the PCN Number please include your vehicle registration number and the date of issue of the PCN
  • You do not need to pay the PCN charge at the time of making an informal challenge.

What happens next?

Please allow sufficient time for us to receive and consider your challenge. 
  • Once your correspondence has been received the case will be placed on hold and will not progress until you have received a reply.
  • If your challenge is successful, the PCN will be cancelled and no further action will be necessary.
  • If we receive your informal challenge within 14 days of the PCN being issued (the discount period) and your challenge is rejected, we will give you a further opportunity to pay at the discounted rate.
  • If we receive your informal challenge between 15 and 28 days of the PCN being issued (after the discount period) and your challenge is rejected you will need to pay the full amount of the PCN.
  • If you do not pay your PCN within 28 days, or the council has rejected your informal challenge and you have still not paid your PCN, the owner of the vehicle will receive a document called an Enforcement Notice.  The Enforcement Notice will advise there is now a further 28 days to either:
    1. Pay the full penalty charge (at the full rate); or
    2. Make a formal written representation to the Council

Formal representation process

A formal representation must be submitted in writing within 28 days of receiving an Enforcement Notice.  A formal representation can only be made on the following grounds:

  • you were not the owner of the vehicle at the material time
  • there was no breach of the bus lane orders/regulations
  • the person in control of the vehicle at the material time was in control of it without the owner's consent
  • the police are already taking action (this applies if the driver of the vehicle at the material time has received a Fixed Penalty Notice or a Notice of Intended Prosecution for the same offence).

You can make your representations on the space provided on the Enforcement Notice.  Please state your case clearly and simply.  If you have evidence to support your claims please attach these to the Enforcement Notice.

What happens next?

After we have considered your formal representation we will write to you with our decision: 

  • If we accept your formal representation we will cancel the PCN and you will receive a letter informing you of this.
  • If the Council decides that the PCN should not be cancelled, you will be sent a letter explaining why. This is called a Notice of Rejection of Representations.  You will have a further 28 days to either pay the charge or appeal to the parking adjudicator.
  • Should you fail to pay or appeal to the parking adjudicator, then a charge certificate will be issued, increasing the fine by 50%. You have 14 days in which to pay this.   There is no further right to appeal at this stage.
  • If payment is still not made, the unpaid charge certificate is registered as a debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) (Northampton County Court) and a sum to cover Court costs is added at this stage. An Order for Recovery will be posted as notification. If the debt is not paid or a witness statement made within 21 days, Redbridge Council may apply to the court for a Warrant of Execution, which authorises recovery of the unpaid amount using bailiffs which will result in the additional costs of bailiff fees.