I will report it to the police but I doubt they will consider it a crime or a problem given it is clear the plate hasn't been cloned and has just been misread on the image used.

There is car A (my car) with a number plate with a D on it and there is car B with the same plate part from the D where they have an O instead.

XXXX XDX

and

XXXX XOX

When checking on the DVLA website you can see that the plate with a D matches my car and the plate with an O matches the car in the image in terms of make and colour. I do not think this is a case of number plate cloning, rather a case of an inadequate ANPR system and the choice of a poor image from which to pull the number plate form.

(edited to add car details)

Edited by ILoveVimto on 07/01/2020 at 16:04

I've had two instances of misread number plates causing issues, wrong people wrong jobs.

One was a simple misread of an Asda parking area some 80 miles from home, our Subaru Outback was a Pug 307 for the day, the threats kept coming and i let them waste a fair amount of time paper and postage before informing them. simply phoned them and asked them to look at the pic.

The other one was much worse, and involved a rather keen policeman who simply would not accept he'd got things wrong, i was accused of demolishing someones gates with my lorry and leaving the scene, leaving parts of a tail lift behind as well as broken lights etc, unfortunately i drove a full size car transporter in those days and not only are they not fitted with tail lifts there is no way on this earth i could have got the thing into this small housing estate in the first place, common sense would have told the copper that.

Officer pestered my company who tried in vain to explain that out of a fleet of some 350 lorries every single one was a transporter.

Eventually the paperwork arrived at my home, i never did speak to the bolshy copper but did get hold of the civvies handling the case, they sent me stills from the CCTV showing the evidence and there in all its glory was a 7.5 tonner box van with tail lift no doubt on parcel work, complete with its wrong reg number, the civvie sorted it out, but just shows how you can be treated as guilty long before anyone's even spoken to you or looked carefully at the case they have in front of them.

In some ways it might be amusing for all the OP's case to end up in front of a judge, who can then dish out some withering remarks to where its needed, but it's not the judge's fault that useless people are employed in places they shouldn't be allowed, a recorded letter to whoever is in charge of the dept should see this sorted out.

First off, do not pay it.

As miniman suggested take a picture of your car from all angles ( 4 pics in total ), scan a copy of the v5 certificate confirming the car and take it to the council with a nasty letter.

Make extra copies of pictures just in case they lose them, make sure you get a receipt from the council they received it,

Then wait.

Once again bad advice from A Driver since 1988, HGV since.

The don't pay is fair enough and indeed essential. If you offer payment at discounted rate you're admitting the infringement and that's that.

However if you want to challenge a Penalty Charge Notice it's important you follow the proper process per the regulations linked to in my post above. Just sending the Council pictures without making it explicit that it constitutes formal representation per Regulation 9 of the The Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005 may not be enough. Use their form and then the position re the regulations is 100% clear.

The risk if proper representations are not made within the time limit set in the Notice to Owner the Council will simply move to enforcement an Vimto will end up with a Bailiff on his doorstep. Once it's with enforcement it's VERY difficult to get it re-opened.