The entry was proved, but an unfair response delay made enforcement unsustainable (2026)

Case 2250361271 / 2025-12-24 / Adjudicator Richard Young

Harrow Road / Oakington Manor Drive

“I find that, on the particular facts of this case, that the delay in responding to the formal representations is procedurally unfair.”

Richard Young

This appeal concerned a no-entry restriction at Harrow Road / Oakington Manor Drive. The adjudicator considered the video, photographs and traffic management order and found that the vehicle had passed a no-entry sign with a bus exception. The argument that roadworks left no alternative route was treated as mitigation, not a reason to find the contravention unproved.

The formal representation was made on 16 February 2025, but Brent issued its Notice of Rejection on 3 July 2025. The authority referred to a backlog and staffing shortage. Richard Young considered the length of the delay, the absence of a holding response or likely response date, its effect on the timing of a hearing and recollection of events, and the explanation offered for the staffing position.

The appeal was allowed on 24 December 2025. The adjudicator expressly accepted that three months was not a statutory response limit for this London moving-traffic case. His conclusion was that this particular delay was unfair. He was not persuaded by every claimed form of prejudice and did not treat other adjudicators' decisions as determining this one.

The practical lesson is to preserve the chronology and explain the actual unfairness: submission, acknowledgement, any updates, rejection and the authority's reasons for taking longer. Do not describe this result as a finding that the signs were inadequate, or turn the normal three-month response expectation into an automatic cancellation deadline.

Source and case reference

Use case reference 2250361271 in the London Tribunals register to find the official decision. This commentary distinguishes the adjudicator's finding from a possible argument in a different case; previous tribunal decisions do not bind another adjudicator.