“The guilty catch themselves” (Anon)
As a result sustained campaigning by this website and the local press, Ealing Council has announced that it will be refunding some yellow box junction tickets that were incurred since 20th June 2008.
The significance of this date is that it is when Shaid Iqbal, Head of Highway Management and Ian Ransom of the Mouchel Group were informed in writing by the Department for Transport that they were not prepared to authorise the yellow box junctions that did not conform to the legislation, namely the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.
The non-compliant locations are:
- Avenue Road & High Street
- Lower Boston Road & Uxbridge Road
- South Road & Hamilton Road
- South Road & Cambridge Road
- South Road & St Joseph’s Drive
- Broadway & The Mall
And there was some doubt over Uxbridge Road & Mansell Road
So, June 20th is the date on which it can be proved beyond doubt that the members of Ealing Council knew they were operating outside the law and issuing Penalty Charge Notices fraudulently.
Prior to that date, in 2007, the Adjudicators at PATAS had been telling them that the yellow boxes were unlawful, and there is evidence to suggest the Department for Transport had advised Mouchel employees verbally that the above locations were considered unlawful as far back as February 2008.
But it really does not stop there. It is an established principle of British law that liability for any error does not start from the time that you discovered you were operating in error, but from the time that you started operating in error. If they found out they were issuing unlawful tickets on the 20th of June, then by definition they were issuing unlawful tickets on 19th June, and on the 18th June, and so on.
In other words the fraud has been perpetuated from day one, since Ealing started enforcing these box junctions back in 2004. They must refund all the money collected at these locations, not just since June 2008. Until they do, the Council will have ‘dirty money’ on its balance sheet.
It’s time for a concerted effort. If you have a PCN from Ealing Council that was issued before 20th June and you still have the paperwork then we would like to hear from you.
Send an e-mail to the address below with your PCN number, date of issue and the yellow box junction location, which must be one of those listed above to ealing@motoristslegalchallenge.co.uk.
The is ought to be a resigning matter, but no doubt as usual the guilty will survive and the innocent will suffer as a consequence.
Money Box Junction 
I have received a letter from Ealing Council mentioning refund of the South Rd/Cambridge Rd junction PCN. One of my friends paid a PCN at the same place in July 2007 but he does not have the paperwork or the PCN. Can he also claim a refund?
Thanks for your efforts to make the Ealing Council bow down.
I have requested for refund, two months ago, for the PCN I had paid. But ealing council has not bothered even to reply. In an another case I have appealed and won was also awarded cost of £59 by adjudicator. Again I am still waiting for the lovely sight of the cheque.
I posted a summary of my case in the ‘Southall (Ealing) Box Junctions’ thread before I found this one.
Basically, I was sent a PCN for the South Road/St Josephs junction in March ’08 which I paid.
In June ’08 Ealing council were told that the South Road yellow boxes were illegal.
However, they will not refund my money (although they accept that the yellow boxes were illegal from the day they were painted!) because my ‘offence’ was pre June ’08.
I live in Ealing and am disgusted that my council can behave in this way.
I’ve sent my details on to this fine site – keep up the good work!
im a courier based in london and have racked up about 500 pound in fines in the past 3 months i was wondering if there was anyway i could find out exactly where every money making box juction in london is so i can programme them all into my sat nav, better still.. anywhere i could download this straight to the satnav? sick to death of getting stuck in big yellow spider webs while the councils suck out my blood
I did contact Ealing council and they have rejected my refund appeal on the following ground, when the contravention happened on 3/9/2009 and on location 31j.
Please read the e-mail i received from Ealing council :
Dear J Govind,
Thank you for your email in regards to your refund.
There are only a limited number of Penalty Charge Notice’s (PCN) that
are eligible for a refund. They are defined by the following criteria:
1. The contravention occurred at the location for code 31j
2.The date of contravention is on or before the 30/04/2010.
3. The date of payment received by us is on or after the 30/04/2010.
Looking at your PCN it appears to fall outside the above criteria as
you paid prior to 30th April 2010.
I must confirm that in light of the above information your request for
a refund has been rejected.
If you require any further information please contact us on 020 8825
6565 quoting your Penalty Charge Notice number.
Can anyone help how to get my money back from the hungry hawks
Hi,
I have filed a case against Ealing council in the small claims court. The council has decided to defend the case and a claim of £1000.00. They have 28 days to reply. I would request more people to take the council to court to strengthen each others case/s.
I will keep updating this page.
Rgds,
Shobhit
Dear Jitan.I got the same reply it is utter crap.I am e-mailing them every day till I get my money back.Keep fighting these greedy bastards!
Kin Regards
Richie
I was given a PCN in Dec 2010 for ‘stopping’ in the lower Boston Road/Uxbridge Road junction.
I asked to see the actual footage as the images they sent me clearly showed that my car was moving and was not stationary. I said I would pay it if they showed me proof.
They said they wouldnt charge me ‘this time’ as a mark of ‘goodwill’. How dare they!!! They were trying to pull a fast one..how many people have they done this to. Surely this is illegal and fraudulent and the council cannot offer ‘goodwill’ where they were clearly wrong.
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I need a refund on location South Road / Cambridge Road please; I do not have the PCN number but my vehicle registration should help.
Apparently “– Uxbridge Road junction Lower Boston Road Hanwell – right turn out” is a scrapped junction. what about turn LEFT???