Westminster Code 27 PCN Appeal (2026)

1. What does Westminster Code 27 mean?

Code 27 concerns parking adjacent to a dropped footway, cycle track or verge in a special enforcement area. Under section 86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, the lowering must serve a specified purpose: helping pedestrians cross, cyclists enter or leave the carriageway, or vehicles cross the footway to access premises. The restriction is not limited to driveways.

Contravention

Code 27 concerns parking adjacent to a dropped footway, cycle track or verge in a special enforcement area

Category

On-Street Parking PCNs

Issuing authority

Westminster City Council

Formal representation deadline

28 days beginning with service of the Notice to Owner or postal parking PCN.

Penalty and discount

Use the charge and discount printed on your PCN; the applicable amount depends on the notice and contravention date.

Initial discount

The initial 50% discount applies for 14 days beginning with PCN service, or 21 days for an approved-device postal parking PCN. An early challenge may lead to a renewed discount if rejected; check the council's policy and the amount and deadline in its reply.

Appeal route

Westminster, then London Tribunals after a formal Notice of Rejection.

2. What must Westminster establish?

In England, a separate prohibition sign, yellow line or white advisory line is not required to establish this section 86 restriction. The lowered feature, its purpose and the vehicle's position are the central checks.

Photograph the kerb profile and the access it serves. An unused crossing is not automatically exempt, and occupier consent does not override other restrictions such as yellow lines.

• The location must be within a special enforcement area where section 86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 applies.
• The footway, cycle track or verge must be lowered to carriageway level for pedestrian crossing, cycle access or vehicle access to premises.
• The vehicle must be adjacent to the qualifying lowered section. Assess the whole vehicle, including its bumper, against the flat section and sloping transition stones.
• The residential exception requires parking by or with the occupier's consent, not given for reward, and does not cover a shared driveway or public crossing point.
• Check authorised parking and other statutory exceptions. Loading must involve premises, require this position and last only as long as necessary and no more than 20 minutes. Necessary passenger assistance and unavoidable stops have separate conditions.

3. Grounds and exemptions for a Westminster Code 27 appeal

The statutory ground must match what happened. These code-specific points explain how to establish it.

Section 86 also addresses necessary boarding or alighting, unavoidable stops, qualifying emergency services and specified necessary works. Consent does not extend to a shared driveway, a public crossing point or an arrangement given for reward. A Blue Badge is not a blanket dropped-kerb exemption. England's signing exemption means that a yellow line, white advisory line or separate prohibition sign is not required solely to establish this statutory restriction.

• The vehicle was not adjacent to the part lowered to carriageway level. Show the flat lowered section and any sloping transition stones alongside the whole vehicle, including an overhanging bumper.
• The feature did not serve one of section 86's specified access purposes. Explain its construction and surroundings with evidence; an assertion that nobody was using it at that moment is not enough.
• The vehicle was outside residential premises with the occupier's consent, not given for reward, and the driveway was not shared. Supply the occupier's confirmation and show that all conditions of this particular exception were met.
• The vehicle was wholly within an authorised parking place, or a different statutory exception applied. Necessary loading is allowed only where it could not reasonably be done without that position, took no longer than necessary and did not exceed 20 minutes.
• The alleged parking contravention did not happen, including where a relevant exemption applied or the restriction was not adequately signed.
• You were not the owner at the relevant time: you never owned the vehicle, sold it before the event or acquired it afterwards.
• The vehicle was under someone else's control without the owner's consent at the time of the alleged contravention.
• You are a vehicle-hire firm and the vehicle was hired under a qualifying agreement with a signed statement accepting PCN liability. Supply the hirer's name and address.
• The authority is demanding more than the penalty legally applicable to this case.
• The authority failed to comply with a statutory requirement in imposing or recovering the penalty: a procedural impropriety.
• The traffic order relied on is invalid, except an order subject to Part 6 of Schedule 9 to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.
• For a postal PCN relying on prevented service or a qualifying drive-away under regulation 10(2)(b) or (c), nobody prevented the officer from attaching or handing over the PCN. This is not the ground for an approved-device postal PCN.
• The enforcement notice should not have been served because the penalty was already paid in full, or at the valid discounted amount by the applicable deadline. Paying a parking tariff is different from paying the penalty.

4. How to make a formal representation to Westminster

For a parking PCN attached to the vehicle or handed to the driver, send an informal challenge to Westminster. Formal representations are made against the Notice to Owner, or directly against a postal parking PCN, within 28 days beginning with service. Respond to the formal notice even if an earlier informal challenge is unanswered.

The initial 50% discount applies for 14 days beginning with PCN service, or 21 days for an approved-device postal parking PCN. An early challenge may lead to a renewed discount if rejected; check the council's policy and the amount and deadline in its reply.

Westminster's published parking-challenge principles require individual consideration, proportionality and assessment of relevant evidence. They allow discretion for sufficiently strong mitigation, including genuine mistakes or circumstances beyond the motorist's reasonable control; cancellation depends on the particular case.

• Photographs of the whole vehicle alongside the flat lowered section and sloping kerbstones.
• Context photographs showing the crossing, cycle access or driveway that the lowering serves.
• An occupier's statement and evidence that the residential driveway was not shared where consent is relied on.
• Loading records, authorisation or a timed account supporting another specific statutory exception.

1. Open Westminster's PCN service below. Enter the PCN reference and vehicle registration to find the notice and evidence.
2. Enter the full PCN reference and vehicle registration. Westminster's portal accepts notices beginning WE, WM or WS. The council says photographs can take up to 24 hours after issue to appear.
3. Use the challenge portal or send a written challenge to parkingappeals@westminster.gov.uk with the PCN number and vehicle registration. Do not use the general parking enquiry form to challenge a PCN.
4. Westminster says the case remains on hold pending its response and an applicable discount is still offered after an unsuccessful challenge submitted during that discount period. Avoid repeat correspondence unless supplying additional information or evidence.
5. Explain which part of the Code 27 allegation you dispute. Include the PCN reference, vehicle registration, your address and copies of photographs or records supporting each point.
6. Save the full submission, attachments and dated acknowledgement.

5. How long does Westminster have to respond?

Westminster must serve its decision within 56 days beginning with receipt of qualifying formal representations. If it fails to comply, those representations are deemed accepted. This statutory period applies to formal representations, not an informal challenge or a request for photographs.

6. If Westminster rejects your representation

A formal Notice of Rejection explains Westminster's decision and how to appeal to London Tribunals. You have 28 days beginning with service of that notice to pay or register your tribunal appeal.

Compare the reply with the Code 27 grounds and evidence you submitted. Identify any unanswered point, missing evidence or inconsistency between the restriction and the recorded event. Keep the rejection notice and the appeal details supplied with it.

An informal rejection is different: formal representations can be made if a Notice to Owner follows.

7. Taking your Westminster appeal to London Tribunals

London Tribunals is independent of Westminster. Use the registration instructions and verification details in the Notice of Rejection, upload your evidence and explain why the alleged Code 27 contravention or liability is disputed.

There is no fee to register the appeal. If it is refused, the full penalty is normally payable; an earlier discount does not automatically continue. If registering late, explain the delay so the adjudicator can decide whether to accept the appeal.

Read Westminster's evidence pack and respond to the points relevant to your case. Keep to the tribunal's directions and evidence deadlines.

2025 London Tribunals results: shared context

74 of 209 recorded cases were allowed (35.4%).

Full Code 27 PCN Appeal Guide

Read the detailed legislation, signage requirements, exemptions and case analysis for this contravention.