How to fight a yellow box junction penalty
A penalty for stopping in a yellow box junction (contravention code 31) comes by post, usually with a link to the camera video. It is a 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. Which councils can issue these penalties, and how much they cost, is on moving traffic penalties. For other tickets, start at fight your ticket.
The rule
The rule is in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, Schedule 9, Part 7, paragraph 11: you must not drive into a box junction so that you have to stop in it because of stationary vehicles.
- It is about entering. The contravention happens when you drive in and then have to stop because of stationary vehicles. If you stop for another reason, for example because of a vehicle that is still moving, there is no contravention.
- Part of your vehicle in the box counts.
- Turning right. At a junction you may enter the box to turn right, and wait there while oncoming vehicles, or vehicles waiting to turn right, stop you from completing the turn.
- Where a box can be. Only at a junction, at a gyratory or roundabout, along a two-way road no wider than 4.5 metres, or outside the vehicle entrance of a fire, police or ambulance station. The right-turn exception applies only to a box at a junction. On a narrow road you must not enter if oncoming traffic would make you stop.
- Emergency vehicles being used for police, fire, ambulance and similar work are exempt when keeping to the rule would get in their way.
What the council has to prove
The council has to prove the contravention; you do not have to disprove it. In Des Banks v Hammersmith and Fulham (2014) the adjudicator said the council must show three things: that you drove into the box, that your vehicle then stopped in it, and that it stopped because of stationary vehicles. The video must show your vehicle entering the box, so that the adjudicator can see the traffic you faced (Place Invaders v Transport for London, 2004).
Government guidance to councils in England outside London says a trained officer must review the footage, and be satisfied that it clearly shows a contravention, before a PCN is issued. The officer must also know the right-turn exception.
Arguments that have won
The video does not show you entering
If the footage starts with your vehicle already in the box, or does not show the road beyond it, the council may not be able to prove what the traffic was like when you entered. That is why the appeal was allowed in Place Invaders v Transport for London (2004).
Your exit was clear, and something unexpected took it
If your exit was clear when you entered and something you could not have predicted then blocked it, such as a vehicle cutting across into your lane, there is no contravention. A panel of three London adjudicators decided this in Essoo v Enfield (2013). Government guidance to councils in England outside London says the same: the contravention can only arise from the traffic when you enter the box, not from anything unexpected that happens afterwards.
Not every adjudicator agrees. In Des Banks (2014) the adjudicator thought it was still a contravention in law, which the council should deal with by using its discretion not to enforce. Whether something was predictable is a question of fact in each case, so point to the moment in the video.
The box goes beyond the junction
A box junction can only be marked at the junction itself, or at one of the other places listed above. In Sam-Yorke v Camden (2009) part of the box covered road beyond the junction; the adjudicator found the marking unlawful and allowed the appeal. The 2016 rules use the same words, a box "at a junction between two or more roads". Photograph where the box runs past the junction, especially if your vehicle stopped in that part.
A full box at a T-junction
The government's Traffic Signs Manual (chapter 5) says half boxes are appropriate at T-junctions and other junctions where traffic queues back from one direction only. The manual is guidance, not law, but appeals have succeeded where the council could not explain why it marked a full box. In Mr S v Medway Council (2026) the driver relied on four earlier appeals that had succeeded on this point, but lost, because the council did explain its reasons.
You were turning right
If you entered to turn right and were held up only by oncoming traffic, or by vehicles waiting to turn right, the exception applies. Say so, and point to the oncoming traffic in the video. Whether you were blocking other traffic does not matter (Place Invaders, 2004).
Other points to check
- No warning letter. In England outside London a council should send a warning letter, not a PCN, for the first contravention at each camera site during the first 6 months of enforcement there, including a long-established box when cameras start enforcing it. If this was your vehicle's first time there in that period, say so: the guidance expects councils to explain any departure from it, and an adjudicator may treat an unexplained one as a procedural impropriety. London has no such rule. In Wales, councils are advised to send warning letters for about the first two weeks of camera enforcement.
- A late PCN. Outside London the council must serve the PCN within 28 days of the contravention, or within 6 months if it asked the DVLA for the keeper's details within 14 days and did not get them in time. London Tribunals says a London PCN should normally arrive within 28 days.
- An exit you could not see. Government guidance tells councils in England outside London to review any "yellow box junction where the exit cannot be seen before entering it". If you could not see your exit, show it with photos taken from the driver's position.
- Mistakes on the PCN. Check the date, time, place, vehicle registration and contravention code.
Arguments that usually fail
- "I only stopped for a few seconds." Any stop counts, however brief (Mr S v Medway Council, 2026). About 6 seconds was enough in Des Banks (2014). There is no grace period.
- "I was following the car in front." If you follow a line of traffic into the box and it bunches up, that is your risk (Khan v Transport for London, 2013; Newman v Transport for London, 2008).
- "Another lane was clear." What counts is the exit you were heading for, not one you could have used (Gillingham v Newham, 2013; Des Banks, 2014).
- "I wasn't blocking anyone." The council does not have to show an obstruction (Place Invaders, 2004; Medway, 2026).
- "The markings aren't perfect." Small flaws, such as the angle of the lines, a gap at a manhole cover or a corner that does not quite meet the kerb, do not make a box unlawful if its meaning is clear (Newman, 2008; the 2013 panel, following the Court of Appeal in Herron, 2011).
- "I was turning right out of the side road." At a T-junction there is no oncoming traffic for that turn, so the right-turn exception does not apply (Medway, 2026).
Evidence to gather
- The council's video. Watch it from before you reach the box, and note the times: when you entered, what was beyond the box, and why you stopped. In England outside London and in Wales the council must send you still images if you ask.
- Your dashcam footage, if you have it.
- Photos of the junction, taken safely: from where you approached it, and from the pavement, showing where the box ends and the shape of the junction.
- The PCN, and the date it 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:
My exit was clear when I entered the box at [time], as the council's video shows. A [vehicle] then cut across from the [right-hand] lane into the space ahead of me, which I could not have predicted. The contravention did not occur (Essoo v London Borough of Enfield, 2013).
The council's video starts at [time] with my car already in the box, so it does not show the traffic when I entered. The council has not proved the contravention (Place Invaders Ltd v Transport for London, 2004).
I entered the box to turn right into [road] and stopped only because of oncoming traffic, so the right-turn exception in paragraph 11(3) of Schedule 9, Part 7 of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 applies.
The box extends about [distance] beyond the junction along [road], as my photos show, and my car stopped in that part. A box junction can only be marked at the junction itself, so the marking there is not lawful (Sam-Yorke v London Borough of Camden, 2009).
This was my vehicle's first contravention at this camera, which started enforcing on [date]. Under the government's statutory guidance the council should have sent a warning letter, not a PCN.
Next steps and your chances
- Make representations to the council within 28 days of the PCN, then appeal within 28 days if it rejects them: to London Tribunals for a London PCN, or to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for England outside London and Wales. Moving traffic penalties explains the discount and each step.
- In London a moving traffic PCN can only be challenged on five grounds. The box arguments above come under "the contravention did not occur", and a late or missing PCN under "the penalty exceeded the amount". Outside London you can also argue procedural impropriety, and ask the council to cancel for compelling reasons. See reasons for challenging a PCN.
- Your chances. In London in 2024-25, 40% of the moving traffic appeals decided were allowed (London Tribunals annual report). Adjudicators treat earlier decisions as persuasive, not binding, and they do not always agree, so make your case on your own facts.
The London decisions quoted here are on London Tribunals' key cases page.
This page was checked against the law in England and Wales on 24 October 2026. It is general guidance, not legal advice: see the legal disclaimer.