Example Cases

The spaces between parking bays are set out in law and are calculated to accommodate most vehicles. There will be times when councils and their parking agents will have to use their discretion in determining whether a vehicle is incorrectly parked.

Minimal overhang beyond the markings
The appellant, issued with a PCN for being parked outside a parking bay, appealed on the ground that the contravention had not taken place. The council contested the appeal, claiming that the PCN had been correctly issued and submitting photographs of the vehicle taken at the time. The Adjudicator found that, while in principle any amount of a vehicle overhanging a bay would justify the issue of a PCN, it was subject to the de minimis rule, which states that in minimal cases, the law is not interested. In this case, he ruled that, from the council's photographs, the overhang was insufficient to amount to a contravention.
The appeal was allowed.

Boot and rear wheels over the yellow lines (BP 197)
The appellant, issued with a PCN for parking on a double yellow line, appealed on the ground that the contravention had not taken place. They argued that they had not parked "on" the double yellow line, because the greater part of the vehicle had been lawfully parked and only the rear wheels and boot had been overhanging the lines. The Adjudicator ruled that the law did not require the whole or the larger part of a vehicle to be on and over the double yellow lines before the vehicle could be said to be "waiting on" them and that it was sufficient for establishing a contravention if a significant part of a vehicle was on or over the lines. Leaving open the question of whether an overhanging boot or bonnet would be significant or sufficient, he said that he had no doubt that, if a vehicle's front or rear wheels were on and over the double yellow lines, then that vehicle was waiting on the lines.
The appeal was dismissed.