Is Parking on a footway illegal?

I got a parking ticket for being "Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours"...to quote the ticket.

I decided to appeal, because I wasn't actually parked on the street, and neither was I blocking any footpath.

I (eventually) got a response back from the council saying..and I quote "The charge was correctly issued becauseyou failed to comply with parking restrictions that apply to the area to which you were parked. Your vehicle was parked on a footway adjacent to a double yellow line. The restriction in force on the yellow line is 'no waiting at any time."

Further it goes on to say... "Parking on the pavement / footway is not permitted at any time, parking restrictions such as yellow lines apply to the area that stretches from the white line at the centre of the road to the first building line, whether that be a garden wall, or the wall of a building. Therefore, unless it can be established that the piece of land is privately owned, footpaths and even wasteland are covered by the parking restrictions"

The pictures that the traffic warden took at the time, were to say the least misleading, and were careful to NOT show the pavement side of the car and just how much room was available to pedestrians.

Here's one of the pictures I took at the time!

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff198/petemorris999/009.jpg

Should I pay up and shut up, or are the council being unreasonable?

I got a parking ticket for being "Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours"...to quote the ticket.

 

I decided to appeal, because I wasn't actually parked on the street, and neither was I blocking any footpath.

 

I (eventually) got a response back from the council saying..and I quote "The charge was correctly issued becauseyou failed to comply with parking restrictions that apply to the area to which you were parked. Your vehicle was parked on a footway adjacent to a double yellow line. The restriction in force on the yellow line is 'no waiting at any time."

 

Further it goes on to say... "Parking on the pavement / footway is not permitted at any time, parking restrictions such as yellow lines apply to the area that stretches from the white line at the centre of the road to the first building line, whether that be a garden wall, or the wall of a building. Therefore, unless it can be established that the piece of land is privately owned, footpaths and even wasteland are covered by the parking restrictions"

 

The pictures that the traffic warden took at the time, were to say the least misleading, and were careful to NOT show the pavement side of the car and just how much room was available to pedestrians.

 

Here's one of the pictures I took at the time!

 

http://s240.photobucket.com/pixlrEditor?image=http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff198/petemorris999/009.jpg&referrer=%2Falbums%2Fff198%2Fpetemorris999%2F%3Faction%3Dimagepicker&redirect=http%3A//s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff198/petemorris999/%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D009.jpg

 

Should I pay up and shut up, or are the council being unreasonable?

The link doesn't work.

I have a friend who took the council to court over a parking fine. The magistrate was scathing toward the council officer who appeared to have a shaky knowledge of the law. It seems that the council like to bully people into paying fines to get money in rather than being careful to fine people who are really in contravention of parking restrictions.

The link doesn't work.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff198/petemorris999/009.jpg

But what gets me, is why did you take the photo? "Just incase" such a thing happened?

That alone says to me you weren't sure wether or not you could park there, and it also looks like it's part of the Cycle Path route too...

It is indeed illegal to park on a footway. Lesson learnt !

You are in effect there parked on double yellow lines as according to the highway code the lines cover from where they are painted to the nearest wall or building, therefore covering the area you are parked in. Its an appeal that you wouldn't win as you were illegally parked.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff198/petemorris999/009.jpg

 

But what gets me, is why did you take the photo? "Just incase" such a thing happened?

 

That alone says to me you weren't sure wether or not you could park there, and it also looks like it's part of the Cycle Path route too...

You were probably unfortunate that someone prepared to do their job passed by but why would you think it was ok to park there?

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff198/petemorris999/009.jpg

 

But what gets me, is why did you take the photo? "Just incase" such a thing happened?

 

That alone says to me you weren't sure wether or not you could park there, and it also looks like it's part of the Cycle Path route too...

I only took the photos 'after' I returned to my car and discovered I'd been ticketed. I was stunned that I had received a ticket. No there is no cycle path there. It was a block paved area.

How come your link works and not his ... you little techno-wizard you!

 

You were probably unfortunate that someone prepared to do their job passed by but why would you think it was ok to park there?

My assumption was that, in order to commit an offence of parking on double yellow lines, you have to be actually parked in the road and 'on' them. Further, my understanding was that you should not cause an obstruction to the footway, and clearly this wasn't the case either.