Re-parked in the same parking place or zone within one hour after leavingThe official national descriptor for code 22, as published in the Department for Transport statutory guidance list.
The letter after the number on your ticket
Codes are often written with a suffix: 22c rather than just 22. The letter narrows the allegation, and it tells you what the council actually says went wrong. These are the suffixes code 22 can carry:
| c | buses only |
| f | free parking bay |
| g | motorcycle bay |
| l | loading place |
| m | parking meter |
| n | red route |
| o | blue badge holder |
| p | pay & display |
| s | shared use bay |
| v | voucher |
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 22 that case rests on:
- A no-return period in the traffic order for that place or zone.
- Signage stating it.
- Two observations of the same vehicle, with the gap between them.
Where code 22 tickets go wrong
Without it on the plate there is nothing to breach. Photograph every plate at the bay.
Ask for both observation times in writing. Officers record arrival and departure, and the arithmetic is sometimes simply wrong.
The restriction attaches to a place or a zone. Moving to a genuinely separate parking place is not a return, and the zone boundary is a question of fact you can check against the order.
Where the vehicle stayed put and only the ticket changed, the code is wrong: that is an overstay or a feeding allegation, not a return.
What to gather before you write
- A photograph of the plate showing the no-return period, or showing that there is not one.
- Anything timestamped that shows where you were in between.
- Both payment sessions with their times.
Code 22 questions, answered
I moved my car and came back to the same street. Is that really a contravention?
It can be, where the bay carries a no-return period and you came back inside it. The rule exists to stop one vehicle holding a short-stay space all day. Two things are worth checking: whether the period appears on the plate at all, and whether you returned to the same parking place or a genuinely different one, because the restriction attaches to the place or zone rather than the exact space.
What does contravention code 22 mean?
Re-parked in the same parking place or zone within one hour after leaving. In plain terms: Where a bay carries a no-return period, driving off and coming back inside it counts as one continuous stay. An hour is the usual figure, but it is set locally and the plate is what governs.
How much is a code 22 penalty?
Code 22 sits in the lower band, so it carries the cheaper of the two rates that council uses. Outside London that is commonly around £50; in London £110 in Band A or £90 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 22 and code 90?
They describe the same behaviour in different places. Code 22 is used on-street; code 90 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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