How to fight a dropped kerb or pavement parking penalty

Parking ticketsLaw checked 25 October 2026

A penalty for parking next to a dropped kerb (contravention code 27), on a part of the road raised to the level of the pavement (code 28), on the pavement (code 62) or for double parking (code 26) is usually fixed to your vehicle by a civil enforcement officer. Each is a higher level civil penalty: no penalty points and no criminal record. This guide explains what the council has to prove, the arguments that have won and lost at the tribunals, and how to make your challenge. The rules are on parking next to a dropped kerb and parking on kerbs and pavements, and the amounts on PCN fine amounts. For other tickets, start at fight your ticket.

The rule

Dropped kerbs. Under section 86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 you must not park on the road next to a pavement, cycle track or verge lowered to the level of the road to help pedestrians cross, cyclists on or off the road or vehicles across the pavement, or where the road has been raised to the level of the pavement for those purposes. It applies wherever the council has a special enforcement area, which includes all of London, and needs no traffic order. The exceptions include a marked bay, parking outside a home by or with the consent of its occupier, and some loading: parking next to a dropped kerb lists them all.
Double parking. Section 85 bans parking in the same areas with no part of your vehicle within 50 cm of the edge of the road. The same exceptions apply, except the one for homes. Under both rules, stopping only to let people in or out, or because something beyond your control stops you, is not parking.
Pavements in London. Section 15 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1974 bans parking with one or more wheels on or over the pavement, a verge or any other part of the road that is not the carriageway, unless signs show that it is allowed there. There are a few narrow defences, such as a police officer's permission.
Pavements elsewhere in England. There is no general ban. A council can give you a penalty only under yellow lines or other waiting restrictions, which cover the pavement and verge too (the PCN is then usually code 01 or 02); where a traffic order bans pavement parking and signs show it; or in Exeter and Essex, under local laws. Lorries over 7.5 tonnes must not park on a pavement or verge anywhere (code 61).
Not yet in force. The government plans to let councils in England outside London penalise parking that unnecessarily obstructs the pavement, and later to ban pavement parking across whole areas. Neither power was in force on 25 October 2026.
Wales has the same dropped kerb and double parking rules as England. For pavements it is like England outside London: no general ban, and no new power yet.

What the council has to prove

The council has to prove the contravention; you do not have to disprove it. At a dropped kerb it must show that your vehicle was parked on the road next to a kerb lowered, or a road raised, for one of the three purposes. A car parked entirely on the pavement is not on the road (Chergui v Waltham Forest, 2006, under the similar London law that section 86 replaced), though in London that is pavement parking instead. For double parking, the council must show that no part of your vehicle was within 50 cm of the edge of the road. For pavement parking in London, that a wheel was on or over the pavement or verge; elsewhere, that a restriction covering the pavement applied and was properly signed.

If you say the place was private land, the council must prove that it is part of the road (R (Pereira) v Environment and Traffic Adjudicators, 2020). But if you rely on an exception, such as the occupier's consent, it is for you to show that it applied (Mr A v Brighton and Hove City Council, 2026).

Arguments that have won

It was outside your home, or the occupier agreed

The occupier of a home, or anyone with their consent, may park across its dropped kerb, as long as the consent was not paid for and the driveway is not shared (section 86(3)). Send a bill showing that you live there, or a short signed letter from the occupier. In Wales, government guidance says councils should act against a vehicle parked outside a home only if the occupier asks them to.

You were letting someone in or out

At a dropped kerb or when double parked, stopping only for as long as it takes someone to get in or out is not parking. In Wanambwa v Southwark (2003), a London case about a loading ban, a driver who got her husband's wheelchair out of the car, took him into a bank and came back shortly afterwards was letting a passenger out, and the appeal was allowed. Waiting for a passenger who has not arrived does not count (Mr A v Brighton and Hove City Council, 2026).

In London, no wheel was on the pavement

The London ban is about wheels. In Wolman v Islington (2007) the Court of Appeal said it is hard to call a vehicle with all its wheels on the road, and only part of its body over the pavement, parked on the pavement. If the officer's photos show all your tyres on the road, say so. The same case decided that a motorcycle on its stand on the pavement is parked on it, even with its wheels off the ground.

The land was not part of the road

The London ban, and yellow lines, cover only land that is part of the road: a highway, or a road the public has access to. In R (Pereira) (2020) the High Court cancelled a penalty for a car on its owners' own strip of pavement, where they had parked on about 200 days a year for 13 years. The council had not proved that the strip was a highway, and the public had no access to it while they parked there. Owning the land is not enough on its own: see the arguments that usually fail.

Outside London, the pavement ban was not signed

Outside London a ban on pavement parking needs a traffic order, and signs that tell drivers about it. In Burnett v Buckinghamshire County Council (1998) the council relied on an order banning parking on footways in High Wycombe, but there were no signs, and the appeal was allowed.

Other points to check

How you got the PCN. In England the officer must fix the PCN to your vehicle or hand it to you. The council can post it only if someone prevented that, or you drove away after the officer had started preparing it: just watching the car does not count, and a camera alone is not enough. If none of this happened, say so. In Wales, councils may also use cameras for these contraventions.
What the kerb is for. The adjudicator decides this from what is there: in Mrs H v Borough of Broxbourne (2024) a block-paved section of road raised to the level of the pavement was a pedestrian crossing point. If a low kerb serves none of the three purposes, show it with photos.
Signs in Wales. Welsh Government guidance says the dropped kerb ban must be shown with signs or road markings. It is guidance, not law, but if there were none, say so and ask the council to cancel.
Late notices. A Notice to Owner cannot be sent more than 6 months after the PCN, and a posted PCN must usually be served within 28 days: see appealing against a PCN.
Mistakes on the PCN. Check the date, time, place, vehicle registration and contravention code.

Arguments that usually fail

"There were no signs or lines." None are needed at a dropped kerb in England (Mrs H v Borough of Broxbourne, 2024). London's pavement ban needs signs only where pavement parking is allowed.
"It's my own land." Not if the public walk over it: the courts upheld a penalty for a scooter on its owner's own piece of a central London pavement (R (Dawood) v Parking and Traffic Appeals Service, 2009), and yellow lines applied to a strip of footway behind a boundary line that nothing stopped the public using (Mr B v Sheffield City Council, 2023).
"I stayed in the car." Waiting is parking, even with the driver inside (Mr M v Slough Borough Council, 2024).
"There's nowhere else to park," or "I've always parked there." A driver who had parked on the pavement at the same corner for years, next to double yellow lines, lost: there is no right to park outside your home (Mr B v Rochdale Borough Council, 2023).
"I parked on the pavement to keep the road clear while loading." In London the loading must be something that could not be done properly from the road, and the vehicle must never be left unattended (Norrell v Westminster, 1999).
"I thought the sign allowed pavement parking." A London driver who parked just outside the signed stretch where it was allowed lost, although he acted in good faith (Davies v Enfield, 2007).
"I have a Blue Badge." Badge holders are not exempt: the government's Blue Badge guidance for England lists lowered kerbs and pavements among the places not to park.

Evidence to gather

The officer's photos and notes. Ask for them if they were not sent: they show where your wheels were.
Photos of the place, taken safely: the whole kerb and what it leads to, such as a driveway or crossing point; any signs or bay markings, and where they start and end; for double parking, a tape measure from the kerb.
Proof of an exception: a bill showing your address, a signed letter from the occupier, a delivery note, or an account of who you were dropping off.
Proof about the land, if you say it is not part of the road: the title plan, and photos of any posts or chains.
The PCN, and any Notice to Owner, with the dates they arrived.

What to write

Keep it short and factual: what happened, which ground it fits, and what the evidence shows, one point per paragraph. Quote only decisions you have read: London's adjudicators have seen appeals citing cases that do not exist, invented by AI tools.

Examples to adapt, with your own details in place of the brackets:

I live at [address] and parked across the dropped kerb to my own driveway, which is not shared, as the attached [council tax bill] shows. Section 86(3) of the Traffic Management Act 2004 allows the occupier to park there, so the contravention did not occur.

I stopped at [time] only to help my passenger, who uses a wheelchair, out of the car and into [place], and I came straight back. Stopping to let someone get out is not parking (section 86(8)(b) of the Traffic Management Act 2004; Wanambwa v London Borough of Southwark, 2003).

The officer's photos show all four of my wheels on the road, with only the [front of the car] over the pavement. No wheel was on or over the pavement, so the contravention did not occur (Wolman v London Borough of Islington [2007] EWCA Civ 823).

There are no signs on [street] showing that parking on the pavement is banned, as my photos show. A ban made by traffic order must be signed, so the contravention did not occur (Burnett v Buckinghamshire County Council, 1998).

Next steps and your chances

Challenge the council, then appeal within 28 days if it rejects your formal representations: to London Tribunals for a London PCN, or to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for England outside London and Wales. For a PCN fixed to your vehicle, an informal challenge within 14 days may keep the discount open. Appealing against a PCN explains each stage and time limit.
The grounds are the same for parking PCNs everywhere, including London. Most of the arguments above come under "the contravention did not occur"; you can also argue procedural impropriety, and ask the council to cancel for compelling reasons. An adjudicator who refuses your appeal can still recommend that the council cancels the penalty. See reasons for challenging a PCN.
Your chances. In London in 2024-25, 49% of the parking appeals decided were allowed (London Tribunals annual report). Adjudicators treat earlier decisions as persuasive, not binding, so make your case on your own facts.

The tribunal decisions and court judgments quoted here are on London Tribunals' key cases page and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal's Traff-iCase site.

This page was checked against the law in England and Wales on 25 October 2026. It is general guidance, not legal advice: see the legal disclaimer.