The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council has not provided signs warning of a traffic restriction. Ms X has a right of appeal to the London Tribunal, and it would be reasonable for her to use this.
The complaint
Ms X complained that traffic signs warning of a traffic restriction on a road she drove on are unclear. Ms X says the Council issued her with a penalty charge notice (PCN) for a moving traffic offence. Ms X also says she challenged the Council about this PCN but the Council refused to accept the challenge because it did not receive it in time.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) London Tribunals (previously known as the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service) considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X says in October 2021, the Council issued her with a PCN for a moving traffic offence. Ms X says the signs warning of a restriction on the relevant road are unclear. Ms X also said that she sent the Council representations as an initial challenge, which it did not acknowledge.
Ms X says when she followed this up, the Council wrote to her and told her it would not consider her representations as they were made outside a 28 day limit.
Ms X had the right of appeal to the London Tribunal on the grounds that contravention did not occur, as there was no failure to comply with a traffic signal.
The London Tribunal has the discretion to hear late appeals and it would be reasonable for Ms X to appeal to the tribunal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council has not provided signs warning of a traffic restriction. Ms X has a right of appeal to the London Tribunal, and it would be reasonable for her to use this.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman