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of PCN appeals against Portsmouth City Council are won
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal recorded 780 outcomes for appeals against Portsmouth City Council from 2013/14 to 2024/25, and 243 of them ended with the driver paying nothing. That is 23.2 points below the 54.4% tribunal average.
Over the same period Portsmouth City Council told the tribunal it issued 815,277 penalty charge notices. Only 780 of them ever reached an adjudicator, roughly one in 1,045. 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
Portsmouth City Council enforces more than one kind of penalty, and drivers do not fare the same on each.
| Penalty type | Outcomes | Not contested | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking | 611 | 31 | 30.9% |
| Bus lane | 156 | 5 | 34.6% |
| Clean air zone | 13 | 0 | 0 of 13 |
See our full guide to Clean Air Zone charges for the real daily rate, why the penalty only arrives after 6 days, and the compliance-based grounds that actually work on appeal.
36 of those 243 wins were uncontested. In 14.8% of the appeals Portsmouth City Council lost, it put up no defence at the tribunal at all. That is a small share, so expect Portsmouth City Council to defend most cases and put your argument in front of an adjudicator rather than fold early. 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 30.7% of appeals against Portsmouth City Council, from 251 outcomes. In 2022/23 to 2024/25 it was 17%, from 100. Drivers are doing worse now than they were, by 13.7 points, so do not lean on the older figures.
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| Year | Allowed | Not contested | Refused | Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013/14 | 17 | 5 | 53 | 29% |
| 2014/15 | 33 | 1 | 65 | 34% |
| 2015/16 | 17 | 4 | 56 | 27% |
| 2016/17 | 43 | 6 | 57 | 46% |
| 2017/18 | 30 | 9 | 71 | 35% |
| 2018/19 | 26 | 2 | 62 | 31% |
| 2019/20 | 17 | 3 | 50 | 29% |
| 2020/21 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 26% |
| 2021/22 | 7 | 1 | 22 | 26% |
| 2022/23 | 6 | 3 | 27 | 24% |
| 2023/24 | 4 | 1 | 34 | 13% |
| 2024/25 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 13% |
| All years | 207 | 36 | 529 | 31.2% |
Busiest year: 2017/18, with 111 appeals decided. A further 8 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 31.2%, not lower. Among the 203 authorities in England outside London and in Wales with enough appeals to compare, Portsmouth City Council ranks 200th 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 |
|---|---|
| East Hertfordshire District Council | 34.7% of 288 |
| Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council | 34.3% of 166 |
| Durham County Council | 31.4% of 357 |
| Portsmouth City Council (this page) | 31.2% of 780 |
| Torridge District Council | 26.7% of 1,936 |
| Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council | 25.7% of 565 |
| North Northamptonshire Council | 24.6% of 142 |
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 Portsmouth City Council enforces is counted above. A tribunal outcome depends on the evidence in that particular case, so nothing here predicts yours.