Transport for London could be forced to refund about half a million parking tickets if it loses a landmark case that was heard on Thursday at the High Court.
It challenged a ruling in four cases where it was prevented from using images from CCTV cameras to send £160 fines to motorists who, it believed, had parked illegally in parking or loading bays on Red Routes, the capital’s network of main roads.
In the last 12 months, TfL has issued 212,712 penalty charge notices to vehicles parking in red route bays – generating an estimated £17m in revenue.
The tickets have a face value of £160 but drivers who pay within 14 days get a 50 per cent discount. The money is reinvested in transport schemes, such as subsidised travel for children and older Londoners.
Ivan Murray-Smith, a parking tickets campaigner, told the Standard ahead of Thursday's judicial review hearing: “It’s very significant for TfL. They rely extensively on CCTV cameras to enforce parking bays on Red Routes.
“If they lose, then they’re going to refund everyone, going back to the beginning of the last financial year.
“We are going to argue they should go back to 2020, when the wording of the regulations changed.”
TfL commissioner Andy Lord warned there would be a “significant adverse impact” on bus journeys and road safety if CCTV enforcement of parking bays was banned.
He said: “The activity to capture non-compliance with parking and loading bays is important as it prevents abuse helps local traders, manages kerb side demand, and supports a safe and reliable road network.
“Stopping CCTV enforcement of red route parking bays would have a significant adverse impact on red route controls, particularly in areas where on-street controls have limited impact and result in weaker congestion control, increased collisions and bus journey delays.”
Timothy Corner KC, representing TfL, told the High Court that the “criticalissue” at stake was whether the definition of a Red Route included any parkingbays.
He said: “If it does, then approved devices, that is CCTV, can be used to issue PCNs for contraventions in parking bays.
“If it doesn’t, CCTV can’t be so used.”
He said the London Tribunals parking adjudicator Stephen Chan had “erred in law” in refusing to review a parking panel’s ruling that CCTV evidence could not be used to issue tickets.
But Karen Bagnell, finance manager at Commercial Plant Services, one of the interested parties in the case, told the court that Parliament had never intended to allow CCTV cameras to be used to enforce parking bays on Red Routes.
She said: “We say that, when taken in the round, the ordinary meaningof the definition is that CCTV enforcement with respect to Red Routes is onlypermitted in such stretches of road that are properly marked with single ordouble red lines.”
The CCTV cameras are typically erected on static poles, with images being beamed to TfL’s control centre. Operators are able to zoom in on vehicles suspected of having been parked illegally.
TfL asked the High Court to intervene after losing four cases in May before the London Tribunals, whose adjudicators consider parking appeals from motorists who believe they have been wrongly fined.
The adjudicators ruled that CCTV cameras could only be used to penalise motorists who had parked on single or double red lines.
They said that parking and loading bays – which are typically marked by either red or white lines - could only be enforced by TfL parking wardens.
TfL’s “road network compliance teams” use CCTV to penalise drivers who breach parking rules on Red Routes, including at yellow box junctions and other banned manoeuvres.
Drivers them receive a penalty notice in the post, rather than one affixed to the vehicle windscreen – which makes it harder to challenge the ticket.
A total of 212,742 PCNs were issued in the 12 months to October 13 this year.
The judge, Mr Justice Swift, refused to allow Mr Murray-Smith to address the court on behalf of Commercial Plant Services, which received numerous tickets after its vans and HGVs parked in parking bays.
He said there were no “exceptional circumstances” to merit granting Mr Murray-Smith a “right of audience” and said Commercial Plant Services, which has £63m annual turnover and a fleet of 400 vehicles, should have paid for a lawyer.
But this meant that Ms Bagnell, who has no legal training, was forced to present her case to the judge while being helped with whispered instructions by Mr Murray-Smith.
In a bizarre moment, she compared the Red Route regulations to a restaurant menu offering "cheese board and spotted dick and custard", and asked: "Would a patron reasonably expect to be served cheese board and custard?"
Mr Justice Swift replied, to laughter in Court One: "You know what? These days, you just can't tell."
Ms Bagnell said Commercial Plant Services regularly carried out work for gas, water and electricity utility firms and, as such, had a right to park its vehicles in the bays.
TfL is thought to be preparing a scheme where drivers can request a refund, should it lose the case. But campaigners say any refunds should be made automatically in cases where TfL still holds the bank details of drivers who paid up.
A ruling against TfL would also mean it could no longer enforce the restrictions on parking and loading bays remotely using CCTV cameras, leaving it reliant on a handful of civil enforcement officers – and creating a need to recruit hundreds of staff.
The case concluded on Thursday afternoon. Mr Justice Swift reserved judgement - with a ruling not expected for several weeks.
"I'm going to take some time to think about matters," he said. "I'm going to make no promises... but I will try to get it to you as quickly as possible."
The earlier ruling by the parking adjudicators also highlighted an anomaly where TfL was using the cameras against holders of disabled Blue Badges, who are entitled to use the parking bays.
The Blue Badges have to be visible in the vehicle windscreen, and alongside a cardboard “clock” indicating showing when the vehicle was parked. But unless the cameras are pointing directly at the windscreen, the Blue Badge cannot be seen.
A TfL spokesperson said in advance of the hearing: “We are committed to keeping London moving safely and efficiently and compliance with the parking restrictions on the Transport for London Road Network, which includes many of the busiest roads in the capital, is essential to achieving these aims.
“Our compliance officers deter and capture offending vehicles through on-street patrols and through active monitoring of CCTV cameras. We await the outcome of the judicial review hearing taking place on October 26."
