Puzzle 7 of 10

Does a council parking ticket have to say you have 28 days to pay?

Spot the mistake in 3 seconds: a council ticket with one legal sentence missing.

SPECIMEN. A fictional council Penalty Charge Notice fixed to a car on 13 October 2026, showing the payment terms. — SPECIMEN. Fictional notice made for a puzzle. Not a real charge, operator or council. The notice is shortened to the lines that matter. The mistake is in a line you can see, or is missing from one of them.

Read the notice as text

Heading: PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE
From: Anytown Council (fictional)
Date of notice: Tue 13 Oct 2026
Vehicle: AB12 IDE
Location: High Street, Anytown
Contravention: Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours (higher level)
Observed: 10:12 to 10:20, Tue 13 Oct 2026
Penalty charge: £70
Payment: Pay £35 if paid by Mon 26 Oct 2026. If not paid, a Notice to Owner may be sent to the registered keeper.
How to pay: Online, by phone or by post, details overleaf
Challenges: You may challenge this notice in writing to Anytown Council at the address overleaf. If a Notice to Owner is sent, you can make representations to the council and, if they are rejected, appeal to an adjudicator.

What is wrong with it?

Tap the one you think is the mistake.

The £70 charge for this contravention
Not this one. Try another.
The payment terms leave out the 28 days
Yes, that is the mistake.
The £35 discount date
Not this one. Try another.

Show the answer

The mistake: The payment terms leave out the 28 days

Council tickets are creatures of regulation, and the 2022 rules list what a ticket fixed to a car must say. One item is that the charge must be paid within 28 days of the date of the contravention. This notice gives the £35 discount date correctly as 26 October and mentions a Notice to Owner, but nowhere tells the driver the 28-day period, which here ends on 9 November. Leaving out required wording is a procedural impropriety, one of the grounds an adjudicator can allow. Raise it in a written challenge to the council first, quoting the schedule.

The rule it breaks

that the penalty charge must be paid within the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which the alleged contravention occurred,

The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/71), Schedule 2, para 2(d), read 19 October 2026; quoted word for word.

The dates, worked out

Contravention and notice	Tue 13 Oct 2026
Discount date (correct)	14 days beginning Tue 13 Oct 2026 end Mon 26 Oct 2026
28-day payment period (missing)	28 days beginning Tue 13 Oct 2026 end Mon 9 Nov 2026