Pah to parking.
Something similar happened to me; I left my car parked in the usual spot, a marked bay, whilst going on holiday for a long weekend. On my return, the council had erected signs enforcing new time restrictions; where the signs had previously stated that no unloading was to take place, now they maintained a one hour limit. As they had changed the parking restrictions around my car and then ticketed me, I challenged the ticket, which was not quashed; the council, in fact, refused to acknowledge that the parking regulations for those bays had even been changed.

I appealed this decision at the correct time and failed to receive any response from my local council. I should have found a piece of paper dropped through the door which would then allow me to make an official appeal to the adjudicator. This piece of paper never materialised, though a summons did arrive in its stead. Calling the council with a complaint that they had failed to send the relevant paperwork, without which I was unable to argue my case, I was informed that they had sent the documents by Royal Mail and that, having placed them in the post box, it was no longer their problem and that the option of re-issuing the paperwork was not available.

Having no legal recourse at this point, I had to pay the fine. The moral of this story is that Reading Borough Council are lying fuckwits who engage in illegal activities and fail to live up to their responsibilities with regard to residents. The other moral is that, even if you do everything correctly, you may still be stuffed.

EDIT: Still worth a try, though.
(ThomsonsPier consumes, Wed 16 Sep 2009, 11:22, 1 reply, 16 years ago)

DEAR INTENER USER
I am labouring under the assumption that you car was parked illegally.
Am I wrong in this assumption?
(INTERNETLAWYERMAN, QC ACE ATTORNEY, Wed 16 Sep 2009, 11:35, Reply)

I parked in a legal place.
The legal place in which I parked was made illegal while I was parked in it. There was no prior warning of this. A ticket was issued under regulations which were not in force when I parked the car.

I do try not to park illegally (which is easier now that I've sold the car) and have had only one other parking ticket, which was due to my own numbwittery. I didn't whinge about that one. Much.
(ThomsonsPier consumes, Wed 16 Sep 2009, 12:39, Reply)