Will I be fined if I drive away before a parking warden has issued the ticket?

I returned to my car after a day at the sales to find a parking warden by it who was starting to write a ticket. I threw my shopping in the car and drove off before the ticket could be affixed. Can I expect to get a penalty?

This depends on whether the parking warden was a traffic warden (who are effectively an extension of the police) in a black uniform with a yellow band around their hat, or a council appointed parking attendant or representative.

Police officers and traffic wardens issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) and if they have your registration number you can be reported for the offence and fined through the criminal justice system. In most cases if they have started writing the ticket you will be prosecuted.

However if the parking warden concerned was a council-appointed parking attendant then the ticket is a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). Under the Road Traffic Act 1991, a PCN must either be affixed to the vehicle or be given to the person in charge of the vehicle to be valid so no offence occurs if you leave the scene and the ticket should not be processed further.

Obviously you should seek to get out expeditiously, but be careful to avoid injury to the attendant if he/she is standing close to the vehicle. It is sensible to make some notes about when and where this happened as soon as possible after the event takes place.

If you still receive a PCN you should write to the issuing authority at the address on the notice, immediately explaining the circumstances and why the ticket is invalid.

While there is a discount for early payment, your letter has the effect of "stopping the clock" so under no circumstances should you pay the fine. You will still be able to pay the lesser amount if your appeal is rejected for any reason.

Should the council accept your representation, you will be informed, and that will be the end of the matter. Should they reject it, you will be sent a Notice of Rejection of Representations, along with a Notice of Appeal which enables you to appeal to the appropriate independent parking adjudicator.

The adjudicators are independent of the council and their decision is final. If the circumstances are as described above, with a ticket about to be issued by a parking attendant, you should expect the council to immediately accept your representation.

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