of PCN appeals against Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council are won

Name: Penalty charge appeal outcomes for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, 2013/14 to 2024/25
Creator: Traffic Penalty Tribunal

The Traffic Penalty Tribunal recorded 1,315 outcomes for appeals against Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council from 2013/14 to 2024/25, and 909 of them ended with the driver paying nothing. That is 14.7 points better than the 54.4% tribunal average.

1,315appeals with an outcome

909won — nothing to pay

376refused

Over the same period Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council told the tribunal it issued 256,609 penalty charge notices. Only 1,315 of them ever reached an adjudicator, roughly one in 195. Almost everyone pays, which is worth knowing before you assume a ticket must be fair because so few people fight it.

What the appeals were about

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council enforces more than one kind of penalty, and drivers do not fare the same on each.

Penalty type	Outcomes	Not contested	Won
Parking	934	276	70.4%
Bus lane	379	62	65.7%
Littering from a vehicle	2	0	2 of 2

338 of those 909 wins were uncontested. In 37.2% of the appeals Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council lost, it put up no defence at the tribunal at all. Roughly a third to a half of its losses never got argued, so a properly written appeal has a real chance of being conceded before anyone reads the evidence. Those tickets were not close calls. The authority had already given up on them, and the appeal was the only thing standing between the driver and a cancelled charge.

Is it getting easier or harder?

In 2013/14 to 2015/16, drivers won 64.9% of appeals against Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, from 268 outcomes. In 2022/23 to 2024/25 it was 56.4%, from 275. Drivers are doing worse now than they were, by 8.5 points, so do not lean on the older figures.

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Year by year

Year	Allowed	Not contested	Refused	Won
2013/14	13	35	23	68%
2014/15	20	45	30	68%
2015/16	27	34	40	60%
2016/17	17	49	15	81%
2017/18	79	14	39	68%
2018/19	93	3	32	75%
2019/20	82	22	34	75%
2020/21	71	37	30	68%
2021/22	81	32	16	88%
2022/23	31	21	36	59%
2023/24	27	15	38	51%
2024/25	30	31	43	59%
All years	571	338	376	69.1%

Busiest year: 2020/21, with 160 appeals decided. A further 30 appeals were closed by consent order across the period, which the tribunal counts separately because it can mean the driver agreeing to pay the original charge.

What this does and does not tell you

These are appeals that reached an independent adjudicator, which is the last stage. They leave out every ticket cancelled earlier, when you first challenge it or make formal representations, and that is where most successful challenges actually end. So your real chance of getting a ticket cancelled somewhere in the process is higher than 69.1%, not lower. Among the 203 authorities in England outside London and in Wales with enough appeals to compare, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council ranks 15th for how often drivers win.

Two details worth knowing before you read too much into the number. The refused column includes appeals made after the deadline and appeals the driver withdrew, so it is not purely a record of arguments that lost on the evidence. And a small number of appeals each year finish with no outcome recorded against any of these categories, so the totals here are of appeals that reached a recorded outcome rather than of every appeal lodged.

Before you write

Find your contravention code. Every PCN carries a two digit code that says exactly what they claim you did, and what they have to prove. Look yours up.
Check the deadline. Discounts and rights both expire. Work out your dates.
Know how appeals work outside London. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal route, step by step.
Do not just ignore it. What actually happens if you do.

How similar authorities compare

Authority	Appeals won
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council	72% of 243
Somerset County Council	69.6% of 819
Thanet District Council	69.5% of 302
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (this page)	69.1% of 1,315
North West Leicestershire District Council	68.8% of 128
Newark & Sherwood District Council	68.5% of 124
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council	68.5% of 340

Every authority we hold figures for, with sources →

Source: Traffic Penalty Tribunal, appeals data by authority, covering 2013/14 to 2024/25. The tribunal decides appeals for England outside London and for Wales, across parking, bus lane, moving traffic, clean air zone, river crossing and littering penalties. Every type Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council enforces is counted above. A tribunal outcome depends on the evidence in that particular case, so nothing here predicts yours.