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of PCN appeals against Mersey Gateway (Merseyflow) are won
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal recorded 25,024 outcomes for appeals against Mersey Gateway (Merseyflow) from 2017/18 to 2024/25, and 20,565 of them ended with the driver paying nothing. That is 27.8 points better than the 54.4% tribunal average.
This is a road charging scheme, not a council parking operation. The figures on this page cover the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges, which Merseyflow runs for Halton Borough Council. The tribunal lists it as 'Halton Borough Council (Merseyflow: Mersey Gateway Crossings)'.
16,438 of those 20,565 wins were uncontested. In 79.9% of the appeals Mersey Gateway (Merseyflow) lost, it put up no defence at the tribunal at all. That is the bulk of its losses, which tells you something plain: on most of the tickets that reach an adjudicator, the council would rather drop the case than argue it. 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 2017/18 to 2019/20, drivers won 91.4% of appeals against Mersey Gateway (Merseyflow), from 18,286 outcomes. In 2022/23 to 2024/25 it was 59.7%, from 3,031. Drivers are doing worse now than they were, by 31.7 points, so do not lean on the older figures.
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| Year | Allowed | Not contested | Refused | Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 871 | 2,538 | 25 | 98% |
| 2018/19 | 827 | 3,453 | 193 | 95% |
| 2019/20 | 1,824 | 7,205 | 363 | 88% |
| 2020/21 | 299 | 679 | 176 | 48% |
| 2021/22 | 253 | 808 | 277 | 63% |
| 2022/23 | 11 | 386 | 428 | 40% |
| 2023/24 | 33 | 767 | 272 | 67% |
| 2024/25 | 9 | 602 | 187 | 72% |
| All years | 4,127 | 16,438 | 1,921 | 82.2% |
Busiest year: 2019/20, with 10,287 appeals decided. A further 2,538 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 82.2%, not lower. Among the 204 authorities in England outside London and in Wales with enough appeals to compare, Mersey Gateway (Merseyflow) ranks 4th 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 |
|---|---|
| York City Council | 93.8% of 715 |
| Mendip District Council | 83% of 188 |
| Milton Keynes Council | 82.9% of 889 |
| Mersey Gateway (Merseyflow) (this page) | 82.2% of 25,024 |
| Gloucester City Council | 79.7% of 143 |
| Coventry City Council | 77.3% of 3,093 |
| Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council | 76.1% of 402 |
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. Only mersey gateway penalties appear in its record. A tribunal outcome depends on the evidence in that particular case, so nothing here predicts yours.