Almost every motorist has experienced the frustration of returning to the car to find a parking ticket on the wind-screen. That little slip of paper and plastic wallet mean either a large fine or a lengthy battle with a usually unforgiving and officious local council.

In 2005 — the last year for which figures are available — more than eight million parking tickets were issued. This is the equivalent of one for every three cars. In London alone more than five million tickets were issued, with Westminster City Council raising £65 million from parking enforcement. Nationwide, motorists forked out more than £1.2 billion.

Yet much of this money could have been handed over unnecessarily. According to some estimates, 60 per cent of parking tickets are issued incorrectly. Last year MPs on the Transport Select Committee issued a withering attack on local authorities, describing parking enforcement as a mess, with as many as one in five tickets being invalid. Less than 0.5 per cent of tickets end up before the Parking Adjudicator — the independent arbitrator for disputed tickets — yet two thirds of these appeals are successful.

So where can you go for help and advice if you think that your parking ticket has been issued in error? A useful place to start is the website of the Parking Adjudicator of England and Wales at www.parking-appeals.gov.uk. The website explains parking enforcement rules and outlines the appeals process, including the legal grounds on which you may appeal. It also offers advice on preparing your appeal. There is a separate parking adjudicator for London.

There are also plenty of commercial websites offering advice and a template appeal letter. One of the most popular is www.appealnow.com, run by the parking campaigner Barrie Segal. For £7.99 you can download an ordinary appeal letter with dropdown boxes to customise. Mr Segal, who is an accountant by day, claims an 89 per cent success rate and says: “Most motorists have no idea of the rules that councils must abide by and, in many cases, nor do the councils. Sadly, the bureaucracies that administer tickets and process appeals do not work with the same ruthless efficiency as the wardens pounding the streets.”

Michael Newman, a charity worker from Finchley, North London, used appeal-now.com to get a ticket cancelled. “I received a penalty charge in Barnet even though I had bought a pay-and-display ticket. It turned out that I had parked on the wrong section of road, but I was livid because the distinction between the residents’ bay and the pay-and-display bay was not clear. I wrote to Barnet council twice but both appeals were rejected.”

At this point he enlisted the help of Mr Segal. “He advised me to write again, this time quoting a precedent set by the Parking Adjudicator. Within a week my ticket was cancelled. I was furious that the council had wasted taxpayers’ money pursuing me for a ticket that it knew was invalid.”

Appealnow.com also monitors the scams used by rogue wardens and runs an annual award for the craziest parking ticket. Mr Segal’s favourite is the 2004 winner: a parking ticket issued on a rabbit hutch placed outside a pet shop. Contenders for this year’s award include a learner driver who received a ticket after stalling his car while performing a three-point turn.

How to appeal against a parking fine

The first step is to send a written appeal to your council. If your ticket is unfair or unreasonable, it is worth appealing even if, technically, you have committed the offence. Councils are allowed and encouraged to show discretion where there are extenuating circumstances or a mistake has been made.

If the council rejects your appeal, you have 28 days to pay the charge or appeal to the Parking Adjudicator. The council should send you the correct form to appeal.

Do not be put off appealing by threats about legal costs should you lose. Costs are rarely awarded to either side as the adjudicator has to prove that the appeal or the ticket was completely unreasonable or vexatious.

The adjudicator is not allowed to show discretion, so there are only limited grounds under which you can appeal. However, the adjudicator can ask councils to reconsider unfair fines.

When the office of the adjudicator receives your appeal, it will write back to confirm the date of your personal hearing or the date that your postal appeal is likely to be considered. The council should send you evidence of its case against you before your personal hearing.

The hearing is informal and conducted over a desk in a normal office. Only you, the adjudicator and possibly a representative of the council are likely to be present.

The adjudicator will explain his or her decision at the hearing or by post. The decision is binding with no automatic right of appeal.

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