I stopped in a restricted bus stop bay for no more than a minute in order to check my road atlas. I received a PCN from Brent Council dated seven days later with a photograph of my car (presumably from one of those mobile cameras) and a demand for £130 (£65 if paid within 21 days). This was on a busy road with nowhere to stop. Is it worth pursuing this fine or should I "pay up and look happy"?

On what grounds would you appeal or pursue? It wasn't an emergency so it doesn't matter how short the time was.

Pay the reduced amount and treat yourself to a copy of the Highway Code - rule 243 covers it - or save the cost and look it up online www.gov.uk/highway-code

The fact that you say you knew is was a restricted bus stop bay indicates that it was marked as such by having a yellow lined box marking it and with a thick yellow line adjacent to the kerb. If this is the case then, as others have pointed out, Highway Code Rule 243, no STOPPING at a bus stop, comes into play; with a penalty applying for doing so just as it would for zig-zag lines.

If the above is the case then, personally, I would take the cheaper, pay now, walk away, live and learn option.

We have a case going on locally where a woman dropped her father off at a bus stop and got caught by one of our local camera cars, she says she was there for 8 seconds and has so far refused to pay. She has now been clamped once by the Council's bailiffs attempting to seize her car and managed to wriggle out of it by refusing to get out of the vehicle for 4 hours. Since this article she has also been subject to another clamp attempt by the bailiffs and now has to keep looking over her shoulder everywhere she goes..... Oh, her charges are now up to £695.... Original fine would have been £35 on early payment option....

tinyurl.com/bc3by4y

Edited by cockle {P} on 27/01/2013 at 17:08