Something rather strange happened in August 2006 in regard London parking tickets. A huge proportion of red route tickets seemed to go missing!

Transport for London (TFL) looks after London parking tickets on red routes covering section 25 traffic London parking offences (if a vehicle is “parked in a loading place during restricted hours without loading”) and section 30 London parking offences (when a vehicle is “parked for longer than permitted”).

Since London parking tickets rose to 60,459 in August 2006, which was up from July 2006 when London parking tickets issued were 52,224, why did the parking tickets on ‘red routes’ seem to disappear?

According to the TFL there were no London parking tickets issued for sections 25 and 30 parking offences since July 2007, and section 46 parking tickets issued since August 2006 seemed to have suddenly increased significantly. Section 46 parking offences are issued for being “stopped where prohibited (on a red route or clearway)”.

The TFL confirmed this year to Guardian newspapers that a parking ticket was not valid if it had been written out for the wrong parking offence. (Unfortunately, if you did pay your London parking ticket you are not entitled to reimbursement).

TFL decided to completely ‘cross off’ sections 25 and 30 London parking offences back in 2007.
A spokesman for the TFL told Guardian Newspapers:

“TFL has a policy of continually reviewing our red route enforcement strategy to ensure that it is fair, appropriate and easy to understand. In 2006, we took the decision to simplify our processes and only use one code when issuing penalty charge notices (PCNs) to those motorists parked illegally on the red routes.

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