Appeal Your Stansted Airport Drop-Off Charge

I appeal as the keeper of the vehicle. I am not obliged to identify the driver and decline to do so.

1. The parking operator is unable to transfer the driver's liability (if any) to the keeper under Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ("POFA") because the drop-off zone at Stansted Airport is not 'relevant land' as defined in POFA. Airport land subject to statutory control falls outside the scope of Schedule 4. The operator therefore has no lawful basis to pursue the registered keeper.

As keeper I am in any event entitled to all the defences available to the driver, including (without limitation):

2. The parking charge is not notified until after the contract is entered into. Under the Court of Appeal's decision in Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking [1971] 2 QB 163, a charge not communicated prior to contract formation does not become part of that contract.

3. The signage is not compliant with the BPA Code of Practice, paragraph 18. The approach road to Stansted's terminal commits drivers to the zone before adequate charging information is visible. No clear, prominent offer of terms was made at a point where the driver could realistically have chosen to avoid the zone, and no valid contract was therefore formed.

4. The vehicle was present in the drop-off zone for no more than 5 minutes. The driver is entitled to the 5-minute consideration period mandated by the BPA Code of Practice, during which no charge may be applied.

5. The charge is not a genuine pre-estimate of loss and is an unenforceable penalty at common law. No identifiable loss was caused to the operator by the vehicle's brief presence in the drop-off zone.

Any one of the above grounds is sufficient to require cancellation of this PCN. I require the charge to be cancelled and invite written confirmation of cancellation.