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"Parking Charge Notices" aren't illegal and they are enforceable but only through the civil court.
Essentially they rely on contract law. By parking there you accept the terms of the contract and if you overstay then the terms for the overstay can apply which means they can charge you.
The contract has to be clearly defined and outlined by signage which must be prominent (and essentially unmissable).
The difficulty these firms have is that enforcing a charge requires taking you to court which costs them money - especially if you put in a defence - to recover a (relatively) small amount so they will use debt collector tactics and bombard you with endless threats of "imminent" court action - on the basis that a second class stamp is cheap and enough people will pay up to cover the costs.
Many people get worn down by them and do pay up but the chances are that if your friend is resilient then they will go away - after the "debt" has been sold on several times - probably in about four or five years or so :-)
The best tactic is avoid entering into any correspondence and certainly do not follow their "appeals procedure" as all you will do is confirm the address they have and dig yourself in deeper.
Cases do occiasionally go to the small claims court - it is contract and hence a civil matter - and if they can show that the signage was clear and that there was an overstay then the court might find for them.
That said a court hearing these cases is very rare and the balance of probability suggests that no response or acknowledgement is probably the best tactic.
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