Failing to comply with a one-way restrictionThe official national descriptor for code 29, 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: 29j rather than just 29. The letter narrows the allegation, and it tells you what the council actually says went wrong. These are the suffixes code 29 can carry:
| j | camera enforcement |
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 29 that case rests on:
- A traffic order making that length of road one-way.
- Prescribed signs at the entry, positioned where a driver approaching normally would see them.
- That the camera is an approved device and a trained officer reviewed the footage before the notice went out.
Where code 29 tickets go wrong
Foliage in summer, a parked high-sided van, a sign angled away from the approach. Go back and photograph the entry from the driving position, at the same time of day.
A diversion, a closure, works traffic management or an officer waving you through all defeat the allegation. Note the date and look for the works notice.
Pulling in or turning to let an ambulance past is a compelling reason, and the full video will show the vehicle behind you.
Plenty of one-way orders exempt cycles, and some exempt buses or access traffic. Check the wording of the order rather than the sign alone.
What to gather before you write
- Photographs of the entry taken from a driver’s eye line, not from the pavement.
- The complete video rather than the still they send.
- Dashcam footage if you have it, including the approach.
Code 29 questions, answered
My sat nav sent me down there. Is that a defence?
On its own, no. A driver is expected to follow the signs rather than the screen, and adjudicators say so regularly. Where it becomes useful is combined with something else: if the street became one-way recently, if the sign is set back or obscured, or if the entry gives almost no reaction time, then the sat nav explains how you came to be there while the signing does the actual work of the appeal.
What does contravention code 29 mean?
Failing to comply with a one-way restriction. In plain terms: A camera at the wrong end of a one-way street. These cluster at entries that are easy to miss, particularly where a street became one-way recently and the sat nav has not caught up.
How much is a code 29 penalty?
Code 29 is a moving traffic or bus lane contravention, so it is not banded higher and lower the way parking codes are. In London the charge is £160 across the board. Outside London it is set at the higher level, commonly around £70. Half is normally taken off for early payment, and because these notices are usually issued from a camera rather than by an officer at the roadside, that discount period is often 21 days rather than 14. Your notice states the actual figures and the actual deadline, and it is the notice that governs.
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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