‘Footway parking’ is illegal throughout the London area, which is a specific difference to the rest of the country.
Outside of London the council are required to specifically state whether or not pavement parking is feasible by signage, anywhere in London it goes without saying unfortunately…
You can happily see bikes parked pretty much anywhere in our provincial towns and cities undistressed by evil wardens and cash hungry councils, not so in London and particularly not in Westminster.
Anything with a numberplate is a target really.
As to pavement lights, the council cannot enforce its tickets where it can be proven that you were parked on private land, i.e. within the confines of a buildings plan - where you’d normally see glass holes etc. Problem is proving this and providing evidence in the event of a ticket, which could be more hassle than its worth.
I was given a ticket by Islington while parked in the rear entrance road of M & S in the city off Moorgate, they backed down on appeal but the problem would be that I’d have to prove precisely where I was parked - i.e. on private rather than council property which isn’t easy to do.
The problem is really that the motorist is guilty until proven innocent with parking tickets, the opposite to the way the law usually works…
The follow on link at the bottom of the original article deals with this http://www.parkingticket.co.uk/sh.html
However for the sake of argument I think I’d personally spend a few more minutes looking for a proper parking space and/or a few more minutes walking to/from my bike than waste hours/days/years of my life researching and putting together a case against a parking ticket, Right in principle or not I have better things to do with my time! Having said that I’m lucky enough to live/work places where a decent space is never far away, Westminster have done well in increasing the number of spaces available as far as I’m concerned (just a shame they had to start charging for them).
We’ve been here before.
It’s all about demarked boundaries and this is where the City of London used to be handy. They used to insist that you marked your private boundaries with a brass, or similar, permanent marker strips.
It used to be that if you could prove it was not public footpath but a private forecourt you were ok.
Now they just make it up as they go along and pass iffy legislation that rides roughshod over property law and common sense.
I think the best working rule is, if you don’t know the owner, your going to be stuffed.
If you do know the owner, your going to be stuffed but with a long fight, you may get off.
Forget them proving guilt (what a silly archaic concept) you’ll have to prove innocence.
Well I’ve just appealed my CCTV parking ticket for stopping at the side of the road for 1 minute to adjust my back protector! It reminds me of that Dr Who episode where everyone had to stay in their cars all the time and keep moving…