Appeal lodged against ‘unlawful’ CCTV parking fine decision

An appeal has been lodged after a tribunal ruled that parking penalties based on camera evidence should only be used as a last resort.

Adjudicators found that Transport for London (TfL) broke Government guidance by using CCTV, rather than civil enforcement officers or traffic wardens, to fine motorists parked in bays on red routes in the capital.

The Department for Transport (DfT) introduced laws to limit the use of CCTV in issuing fines in 2015. 

Now, TfL has lodged an application seeking a judicial review at the High Court to try to overturn the appeal ruling.

The three adjudicators said that TfL had acted with “procedural impropriety” by using CCTV to issue fines where Government rules say they should have used traffic wardens.

They said the latest guidance from the DfT says that “approved devices”, primarily automatic number plate recognition CCTV cameras, “are used only where enforcement is difficult or sensitive and enforcement by a Civil Enforcement Officer is not practical”.

They said that motorists who have parked legally, for example in a loading and unloading bay, but are accused of contravening rules based on CCTV evidence, “may find it impossible to obtain the necessary evidence, after the event, to discharge the burden of proving loading/unloading”.

But if a motorists parked in one of these bays encounters a traffic warden, they can show them at the time that they are using it for its intended purpose and avoid a ticket.

An order issued by Mrs Justice Foster to the High Court in London said “there is an urgent issue of statutory interpretation requiring decision concerning the penalty enforcement mechanism on red route parking bays in London”.

A TfL spokesperson said: “We believe we have been applying the regulations correctly and are seeking a review of the tribunal’s ruling at the High Court.”

Data published last year, showed that three London streets had each generated more than £1 million per year in parking fines.

Data from AppyParking+ shows that tickets issued in Mare Street, Clapham Park Road and Millenium Way all generated more than £2m in revenue over a two-year period.