Your ticket
Fixed Penalty Notice for parking: a police ticket
Independent site, not a council, operator or appeals service. You pay or appeal only through the channel printed on your notice.
Confirm with the checker that the notice comes from the police: it sets out what kind of penalty it is and what happens if the time to pay runs out.
You have
Fixed Penalty Notice (police)
- What it is
- A criminal fixed penalty for a parking offence, offered instead of prosecution. It is not a debt to a company and not a civil council charge.
- Amount
- The amount printed on the notice.
- If it is not paid
- GOV.UK: if you do not pay within 28 days you may pay 50% more or be taken to court.
- Next step
- Pay or ask for a court hearing within the time printed on the notice. You cannot appeal it like a council PCN.
A Fixed Penalty Notice is the ticket a police officer, or a traffic warden working for the police, gives for a parking offence. It belongs to criminal law: the notice offers you the chance to settle the matter by paying a fixed sum instead of being prosecuted in a magistrates' court or, in Scotland, a sheriff court. That makes it very different from a council Penalty Charge Notice, which is a civil penalty with an informal challenge, formal representations and an independent adjudicator, and from a private Parking Charge Notice, which is a contract claim. GOV.UK explains that if you do not pay a fixed penalty within 28 days you may have to pay half as much again, or be taken to court. In Scotland, Transport Scotland's parking report gives the police parking fixed penalty as £30, rising to £45 if it is not paid in time. Since most parking in Britain is now enforced by councils, police tickets are rarer, but the stakes of ignoring one are higher.
Police fixed penalty for parking
Scotland
£30
| On time | £30 |
| Late | £45 |
| England and Wales | GOV.UK: 50% more after 28 days |
Rules, amounts and dates read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Three tickets, three legal systems
| Police Fixed Penalty Notice | Council Penalty Charge Notice | Private Parking Charge Notice | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature | criminal, offered instead of prosecution | civil penalty set by law | claim under contract |
| Who issues | a police officer or police traffic warden | a council civil enforcement officer or camera | a parking company |
| If unpaid | may rise by 50% or go to court (GOV.UK) | charge certificate, +50%, court registration | debt letters, possible county court claim |
| To dispute it | ask for a court hearing | challenge, representations, adjudicator | operator, then POPLA or IAS |
The checker at the top of the page sorts the notice into one of these columns from the heading and the issuer. If it says police, everything below applies; if it says council, read our Penalty Charge Notice guide instead.
Paying, or asking for a hearing
A fixed penalty gives you a choice. Paying the sum within the time on the notice ends the matter: no court, and for a non-endorsable parking offence no points on your licence. Declining it means the police may prosecute, and a court decides. There is no middle path of writing to explain the circumstances and hoping for cancellation, as there is with a council, although the notice or the fixed penalty office can tell you whether the force accepts representations. Read the back of the notice carefully: it states how to pay, how to ask for a hearing and by when.
Because the court route can lead to a fine set by the court plus costs, it suits cases where you have clear evidence that no offence was committed. For a doubtful case, many people pay within the time to avoid the uplift.
The cost of waiting
The main trap is time. GOV.UK warns that missing the 28 days can mean paying 50% more. In Scotland the figures are set out in Transport Scotland's report on decriminalised parking enforcement: £30 on time, £45 late (Transport Scotland DPE report 2024-25). Use the mini-tool above to compare the two. For a notice issued on 9 November 2026, 28 days take you to early December: put the date in your diary the day you receive it.
Scotland: police and council tickets side by side
Scottish councils that run decriminalised parking enforcement issue Penalty Charge Notices of up to £100, halved within 14 days. In areas without it, parking is still a matter for Police Scotland. Two drivers parked on the same type of yellow line in two Scottish towns can therefore receive two different kinds of ticket. Our Scotland page lists how each works.
What we can and cannot tell you
This page explains the categories so that you know which rules to read. It does not cover driving offences such as speeding, and it does not advise on whether to contest a prosecution. The police force named on the notice, and the court if you ask for a hearing, are the only places where your case is decided.