How to appeal a moving traffic PCN (yellow box, no entry, banned turn)

What counts as a moving traffic contravention

• Entering and stopping in a yellow box junction when the exit is not clear.
• Making a banned turn or going the wrong way down a one-way street.
• Driving through a no-entry sign or a pedestrian and cycle zone.
• Using a road restricted to buses, taxis or permit holders (bus gates and school streets).
• Failing to give way at a priority sign or ignoring a weight or width limit.

The PCN is sent to the registered keeper with a link to the footage. In London the charge is £160, on borough and TfL roads alike; elsewhere in England it is £70 in most council areas and £60 in a few. The 50% discount period is stated on the notice.

The rules the council has to follow

Outside London, the Department for Transport's statutory guidance requires councils to issue a warning notice rather than a PCN for a driver's first contravention at each camera location during the first six months of enforcement there. If you were fined without a warning in that period, say so.

Every restriction must be signed in accordance with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions. Box junction markings must be correctly painted and the junction must qualify for one. A no-entry restriction needs the right sign in the right place. Adjudicators have cancelled thousands of PCNs where the signage was non-standard, faded or positioned where a driver could not reasonably see it in time.

Grounds that win

• Yellow box: you stopped because of something you could not foresee. The rule is that you must not enter the box unless your exit is clear. If a car ahead braked unexpectedly, a pedestrian stepped out or an emergency vehicle came through, that is a defence. You may also wait in the box when turning right if oncoming traffic is stopping you.
• Yellow box: you were only partly in the box, or stopped for seconds. Adjudicators apply a common-sense test to trivial incursions.
• Signs and markings were deficient. Photograph them from the driver's approach.
• You were following a diversion, a police officer's directions, or avoiding an obstruction.
• Exempt vehicle or permit holder (for example a resident on a school street with a registered vehicle).
• First contravention without a warning outside London in the first six months of enforcement.
• Wrong vehicle, cloned plate or unreadable footage.

How to appeal

Watch the footage first. Then make representations within 28 days through the council's portal or in writing. If rejected, you have 28 days to appeal free of charge to London Tribunals or the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, where an adjudicator will look at the same video and the signage. AppealGo can check the notice and file the representations for you.