Using a vehicle in a parking place in connection with the sale or offering or exposing for sale of goods when prohibitedThe official national descriptor for code 18, as published in the Department for Transport statutory guidance list.
What the council has to be able to show
An appeal is not an apology, it is a challenge to the council’s case. For code 18 that case rests on:
- A prohibition on trading from that parking place.
- That the vehicle was being used in connection with selling goods.
- Evidence of the selling, not merely an inference from what the vehicle looks like.
Where code 18 tickets go wrong
A sign in the window of a car you also drive is not obviously trading. Ask what evidence they hold that goods were being offered.
If you are licensed for that pitch, produce it. The two regimes are separate and councils do cross them up.
A catering van parked between events is not trading from that spot. Explain what it was doing there.
Trading bans attach to specified places. Ask them to identify the order.
What to gather before you write
- Your street trading licence if you have one.
- Anything showing the vehicle was not open for business at that time.
- The officer’s photographs, requested in writing.
Code 18 questions, answered
I had a for sale sign in my own car. How is that trading?
That is the argument, and it is a reasonable one. The code is aimed at using a vehicle in connection with selling goods, and councils do stretch it to cars advertised for sale on the street. Ask what evidence they hold that goods were being offered from the vehicle. If their case is a card in the window of a car you also tax, insure and drive, say so.
What does contravention code 18 mean?
Using a vehicle in a parking place in connection with the sale or offering or exposing for sale of goods when prohibited. In plain terms: Selling from a parked vehicle. Councils use this against food vans and street traders, and also against a car left with a for sale sign in the window, which is the use that surprises people.
How much is a code 18 penalty?
Code 18 sits in the higher band, so it carries the more expensive of the two rates that council uses. Outside London that is commonly around £70; in London it is £160 in Band A or £140 in Band B. Half is normally taken off if you pay within 14 days, and your notice states the actual figures.
What is the difference between code 18 and code 74?
They describe the same behaviour in different places. Code 18 is used on-street; code 74 is the off-street version, issued in a council car park. The facts you would argue are the same, and only the location and the code on the notice change.
Your notice is definitive. This page explains the national code. Councils use extra codes and local suffixes, and the wording printed on your own notice always takes precedence. Check the deadline on the notice before you do anything else, because the discount usually runs out after 14 days.
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