The parking tickets the council issues are called Penalty Charge Notices (PCN). They are issued in accordance with the Traffic Management Act 2004.

The 2004 Act enables Councils to take over most parking enforcement from the Police.  This includes yellow line enforcement.  However, enforcement does not take place in the Magistrates Court as PCN's are enforced through the civil justice system, rather than the criminal justice system.  Thus, Councils enforcing parking restrictions under the Traffic Management Act 2004 are said to be operating 'civil parking enforcement'.

Civil Enforcement Officers are employed to issue PCN's. They may be issued on street or in car parks.

The PCN must be either fixed to the vehicle or given to the person who appears to be in charge of that vehicle, although there are three exceptions when a PCN may be issued by post.  The exceptions are:

• When the Civil Enforcement Officer has been prevented by violence from serving the PCN by either fixing it to the vehicle or giving it to the person who appears to be in charge of the vehicle.  This includes situations where the person who appears to be in charge of the vehicle is abusive or prevents service indirectly through intimidation or directly through threats or actual physical force.
• When the Civil Enforcement Officer has started to issue the PCN but did not have enough time to serve it before the vehicle was driven away and would otherwise have to cancel it.
• When the parking contravention has been detected on the basis of evidence from a camera.

I have received a penalty charge notice - what can I do about it?

You have three choices:

• Pay it
• Ignore it
• Object to it

How much do I have to pay?

Penalty Charge Notices may be either £70 or £50 depending on the seriousness of the parking contravention.  For example, a penalty charge notice that is issued for parking on a yellow line will be at the higher rate of £70, whereas if a pay and display ticket has expired the lower rate of £50 will apply.  A full list of parking contraventions that are enforced in York can be downloaded from the website.

If payment is made within 14 days of the service of the penalty charge notice a discount amount of 50% is payable.  The day of service of the penalty charge notice is counted as day 1 of the 14 day period.

After 14 days the full amount will be payable, except if you have made an objection and a decision has been made to reject your objection. If we reject your objection, we will send you a letter to inform you of our decision and will allow you a further 14 days from the receipt of our letter for payment at the discount rate.

What will happen if I ignore the penalty charge notice?

Do not ignore parking tickets. They do carry extra penalties if not paid (or contested) promptly. Furthermore, if you persistently ignore penalty charges you risk having your vehicle clamped and towed away. If your vehicle is clamped and towed away you may then become liable for the cost of clamping and removal, which is currently £40 for clamping and £105 for removal.

If the Penalty Charge Notice is ignored then, after 14 days, the opportunity to pay at the reduced amount is no longer available and the full amount becomes payable. Please note that the Penalty Charge Notice does not increase, it is always set at the full rate, but the Traffic Management Act allows a reduction to be made for early payment.

During the 28 day period following the service of a penalty charge notice we will contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to obtain the name and address of the registered keeper of the vehicle. We will then send a legal document known as a Notice to Owner, to that person. The registered keeper of the vehicle is considered, under the provisions of the Act, to be the owner of the vehicle, and it is the owner of the vehicle who is liable for payment of the penalty charge notice irrespective of whether the owner was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the service of the penalty charge notice.