Penalty Charge Notice parking fine "wrong class of vehicle"

I will be contesting the fine. The campervan has its MoT as a car (not a van or lorry), I drive it on a car driving licence, and it's the same size or smaller than most cars. It's less than 3.5 tonnes, and fits under the common 2.1m height barriers at car-only car parks. We've parked the campervan there many times before (by the tennis courts, some way away from the beach and town) and have seen other campervans parked there too.

I've a feeling the "cars and motorcycles only" signs are new, but I can't find a definition of "car" anywhere in the legislation for parking enforcement. Clearly a campervan is on the border between a car and a big lorry-sized motorhome, but the council must have a definition somewhere, so people can know where they stand.

I'm a lot less bothered by the fine than the apparent classification of Betty as "not a car". They didn't even state what they thought she was

 

Don't refer to it as a camper VAN.
Call it a camper.

If your first attempt fails, submit a freedom of information request asking them to provide any and all documents relating to their decision making process with regards designating parking spaces 'car only'. Plus any documents detailing what constitutes a car or how they would decide what a car is. Plus what bodies they consulted with on the matter. Plus how did they publicise these changes

 

Go for it. It may drag on, but they rely on folk not contesting. They’ll likely send you a standard boiler-plate letter as a first response, but keep going. If they don’t want campers there, easy enough to say so on the signage.

If the restriction’s based on size, point out that a Bay is barely bigger than a VW Golf in ground area.

 

I suspect that they'll say that she is a "motorhome" in the eyes of the law. I need to check the registration document when I get home, but I suspect that Dormobile would have registered her as such back in 1978. There is a government document I found to do with parking signs that says a picture of the back end of a car towing a caravan means "cars towing caravans and motorhomes" as a class of vehicle.

The sign also says "no cooking or overnight sleeping", which is a bit odd if campervans aren't allowed to park anyway...

Parking restriction has been there since 2014, according to the Dorset CC website parking map.

 

Good luck with challenging it.

I expect they'll class it as a motorhome, which even larger ones over 3500kg are tested as class 4 like cars.

 

On v5 it will say motor caravan so............ if they call it motorhome they are wrong wording wise . Did they fine you for any specific time span ? if not then how can they prove how long you was there and that you wasn’t just using the highway parking as an emergency or other ie not cooking and not sleeping ? I do fear they will not back down but................?

 

Van or motor caravan on V5C, neither should be parked where it says cars and motorbikes only.

I'd probably chance it myself, hoping they'd only ticket large motorhomes, but know I might get a ticket.

 

I've not been the same since one of them asked if I wanted to see Old Harry's Rocks.....

 

That’s not far from Sandy Balls holiday park is it?!


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Just down the road from the River Piddle, in fact.

 

Ah, good memories of Sandy. I had no idea he ran a holiday park.

 

Just stick a plumber on call on the screen ...with bits of copper pipe on the deck toolbox and apair of blue latex tossed about, job done .

 

But who would believe that a plumber would actually turn up to do some work!

 

But they’d know your minted then n charge you fa coming out on top of your fine

 

A "pair of blue latex" what??
Sounds more like a lady of dubious morals to me.

 

These may assist your appeal

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-1708393/How-fight-parking-ticket.html

https://www.express.co.uk/life-styl...Charge-Notice-Excess-Parking-dont-have-to-pay

https://www.moneywise.co.uk/bills/travel/top-tips-beating-unfair-private-parking-tickets

 

Best Sheriff of Nottingham ever.

 

You get the brazer going Malc i will get the iron rods ...OH and my black hood

 

You’ve only got to look at the sort of self serving, jobs worth, personality vacuums that are employed by local councils to understand how easy it was for a small group of crack pots called the Nazis to take over the running of an entire country. They knew these types of people will do anything without even the tiniest flicker of remorse or reasonableness, if it’s in the rules and they will get a gold star for following them orders to the letter.