How to appeal a parking ticketParking ticket rules in Scotland and N Ireland

Scotland

In some parts of Scotland (mainly outside the larger cities), parking is still controlled by the police, and breaches are a criminal offence, so Police Officers or Police Traffic Wardens will issue Fixed Penalty Notices. Elsewhere, the situation is the same as in England and Wales. Appeals against Penalty Charge Notices parking tickets issued by councils in Scotland are dealt with by the Scottish Parking Appeals Service.

More significantly, In Scotland the courts have ruled that all clamping is akin to extortion and have banned it altogether.

Northern Ireland

Since October 2006, Northern Ireland has moved over to a decriminalised system of parking regulation, and enforcement is the responsibility of Department of the Environment Roads Service. The Parking Enforcement Processing Unit (PEPU) is responsible for collecting parking ticket fines, enforcing non payment and arbitrating on disputes.

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On-street parking and waiting restrictions are now enforced through parking attendants, provided by private contractors National Car Parks (NCP), who issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) in the same way as in the rest of the UK.

If you receive a PCN parking ticket and want to appeal, first write to PEPU stating why the notice is unfair or incorrect. Their address is:

Parking Enforcement Processing Unit
Roads Service
County Hall
Castlerock Road
Coleraine
BT51 3HS

If it rejects your parking ticket appeal, you can appeal through the NI Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

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