Entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibitedThe official national descriptor for code 31, 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: 31j rather than just 31. The letter narrows the allegation, and it tells you what the council actually says went wrong. These are the suffixes code 31 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 31 that case rests on:
- Box markings laid out in the prescribed form, not merely painted approximately.
- That your exit was not clear at the moment you entered.
- That the right-turn exemption does not cover what you were doing.
- An approved camera and a trained officer’s review of the footage.
Where code 31 tickets go wrong
This is written into the regulations, not a concession. If you stopped inside the box because oncoming traffic or other right-turning vehicles blocked you, no contravention occurred. Say it in the first line.
A pedestrian stepping out, a vehicle ahead stalling, a light changing early: the question is what you could see when you crossed the line, not what happened afterwards. The full video shows this and the still never does.
Boxes have a prescribed design. Faded, incomplete or wrongly sized markings are challenged successfully, and some boxes are simply drawn too large for the junction.
Where a box sits immediately before a pedestrian crossing or a short filter, drivers are funnelled into stopping. Adjudicators do take poor design into account.
Outside London this power is new. Department for Transport guidance says that for six months after enforcement starts at a camera location, councils should send a warning notice rather than a penalty for a first contravention there. If your notice is from a recently commissioned site, ask when enforcement began at that camera.
What to gather before you write
- The complete video, requested in writing. Always ask; the still is chosen to look bad.
- Photographs of the markings, showing wear and extent.
- A note of which way you were going and where you intended to exit.
Code 31 questions, answered
I stopped in the box waiting to turn right. Is that allowed?
Yes, and it is the one thing you are expressly permitted to do. The regulations let you enter and wait in a box junction if you are turning right and are prevented from completing the turn by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right. If that is what happened, say it in the first sentence of your challenge and ask for the full video, because the still image the council sends cannot show that you were indicating and waiting to turn.
What does contravention code 31 mean?
Entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited. In plain terms: The rule is narrower than most drivers think, and it cuts both ways. You may enter the box only if your exit road is clear. But once inside, the one thing you are expressly allowed to do is wait to turn right, held by oncoming traffic.
How much is a code 31 penalty?
Code 31 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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