Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967 (repealed)

• (5) Any power conferred by this section to provide a parking place includes power to maintain it (if below ground) and to maintain buildings comprised in it, and to provide and maintain any cloakroom or other convenience for use in connection with it (references to parking places in other provisions of this section and in sections 29(4) and 31(7) of this Act being accordingly construed as including references to such a convenience).

• (6) In this section and sections 29 to 32 of this Act—

• (a) " local authority ", in relation to England and Wales, means the council of a county borough, London borough or county district, the Common Council of the City of London or, subject to subsection (7) below, the Greater London Council, and, in relation to Scotland, means a county council or town council;

• (b) " parking place " means a place where vehicles, or vehicles of any class, may wait;

and for the purposes of those sections an underground parking place shall not be deemed to be part of a road by reason only of its being situate under a road.

• (7) The Greater London Council shall not exercise their powers under this section or section 29 of this Act—

• (a) as respects any London borough, without the consent of the council of that borough, or

• (b) as respects the City of London, without the consent of the Common Council,

except with the consent of the Minister.

• (8) For the purposes of the Telegraph Acts 1863 to 1962 an underground parking place situate under a road which is provided and maintained under this section shall be deemed to be a subway within the meaning of section 6 of the Telegraph Act 1878.

Additional powers of local authorities in connection with off-street parking places.

29

• (1) The power of a local authority under section 28 of this Act to provide off-street parking places shall include power, exercisable in accordance with proposals in that behalf made to the appropriate Minister and approved by him, to provide them in buildings used also for other purposes, and to erect or adapt, and to maintain, equip and manage, buildings accordingly ; and the authority by whom a parking place is so provided may let on such terms as they think fit parts of the building which are not used for the parking place, and may provide services for the benefit of persons occupying or using those parts, and make such reasonable charges for those services as they may determine.

• (2) The appropriate Minister shall not approve proposals submitted to him under subsection (1) above for the provision of a parking place in a building used also for other purposes unless he is satisfied that the extent to which those purposes will be served by the building is no more than reasonable to ensure the economic operation of the parking place.

• (3) A local authority may adapt for use as a temporary off-street parking place any land owned by them or under their control, not being, in the case of land so owned, land acquired or appropriated by them for such a parking place.

• (4) A local authority may let for use as a parking place any off-street parking place provided by them.

• (5) Where under subsection (1) above a local authority provide an off-street parking place in a building, the power conferred on them by subsection (4) above shall extend to letting the parking place separately from the rest of the building and to letting the whole or any part of the building with the parking place.

• (6) A local authority may on such terms as they think fit—

• (a) let land on which they could erect or adapt a building for the purpose of providing an off-street parking place with a view to some other person's doing so ; or

• (b) arrange with any person for him to provide such a parking place on any land of which he is the owner or in which he has an interest.

• (7) A local authority may at an off-street parking place provided by them under section 28 of this Act provide and maintain such buildings, facilities and apparatus as they think fit for the storage and sale of fuel and lubricants and supply of air and water for the vehicles, and may let or hire out, on such terms as they think fit, the buildings, facilities or apparatus so provided, but shall not themselves sell or supply fuel or lubricants.

• (8) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not affect the provisions of any local Act as to the provision of parking places.

• (9) A local authority shall have power, and (notwithstanding anything in section 81 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 as originally enacted or in the corresponding provision of the enactments repealed by that Act) shall be deemed always to have had power, to enter into arrangements with any person under which, in consideration of the payment by him to the authority of a lump sum, or series of lump sums, he is authorised to collect and retain the charges made in respect of the parking of vehicles in an off-street parking place provided by the authority under section 28 of this Act, under the said section 81 or under that section as applied by virtue of section 82 of the said Act of 1960 or under the corresponding provisions of the enactments repealed by that Act.

Acquisition of land.

30

• (1) A local authority may be authorised by the appropriate Minister to purchase compulsorily land for the purposes of sections 28 and 29(6)(a) of this Act, and the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act 1946 or, as the case may be, the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) (Scotland) Act 1947 shall apply in relation to the compulsory purchase of land under this subsection as if it had been in force immediately before the commencement of that Act.

In this subsection " land " includes any interest or right in, over or under land.

• (2) Land compulsorily acquired by a local authority otherwise than for the provision of an off-street parking place and not appropriated for a purpose other than that for which it was acquired shall not be used, by them for the provision of an off-street parking place thereon for a period exceeding twelve months except with the consent of the Minister of the Crown who, at the time when his consent is sought, is the Minister concerned with the function for the purposes of which the land was acquired.

• (3) The power of a local authority to acquire land for the purposes of sections 28 and 29(6)(a) of this Act shall extend to the acquisition of any interest or right in, over or under land.

Provisions as to use of parking places provided under s. 28.

31

• (1) Subject to sections 84A, 84B and 84C of this Act, a local authority may, as respects any parking place—

• (a) provided by the authority under section 28 of this Act, or

• (b) provided under any letting or arrangements made by the authority under section 29(6) thereof,

by order make provision as to the use of the parking place, and in particular as to the vehicles or class of vehicles which may be entitled to use it, as to the conditions on which it may be used, as to the charges to be paid in connection with its use (where it is an off-street one) and as to the removal therefrom of a vehicle left there in contravention of the order and the safe custody of the vehicle.

• (2) An order under subsection (1) above may provide for a specified apparatus or device to be used as a means to indicate the time at which a vehicle arrived at, and the time at which it ought to leave, a parking place, or one or other of those times, or the charges paid or payable in respect of a vehicle in an off-street parking place, or as a means to collect any such charges, and may make provision regulating the use of any such apparatus or device; but an order shall not provide for the use of any apparatus or device not generally or specially approved for the purpose by the appropriate Minister and, where an order provides for the use of any apparatus or device for collecting charges at an off-street parking place, the local authority shall comply with any directions of the appropriate Minister as to the testing, maintenance and periodical inspection of the apparatus or device.

• (3) In the event of any contravention of, or non-compliance with, a provision of an order under subsection (1) above, the person responsible shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5 or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding £10 ; and where such an order provides for the use of any apparatus or device for collecting charges at an off-street parking place, any person who, with intent to defraud, interferes with the apparatus or device, or operates or attempts to operate it by the insertion of objects other than current coins of the appropriate denomination, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

• (4) An order under subsection (1) above may include provision—

• (a) for determining the person responsible for any contravention of, or non-compliance with, the order;

• (b) for treating the indications given by any apparatus or device used in pursuance of the order as evidence, and in Scotland sufficient evidence, of such facts and for such purposes as may be provided by the order ;

• (c) for applying with any appropriate adaptations any of the provisions of section 42(5) to (7) of this Act.

• (5) While a vehicle is within a parking place, it shall not be lawful for the driver or conductor of the vehicle, or for any person employed in connection therewith, to ply for hire or to accept passengers for hire, and if a person acts in contravention of this provision he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £2.

• (6) In England or Wales, a local authority may institute proceedings for offences in connection with parking places provided by the authority, or provided under any letting or arrangements made by the authority under section 29(6) of this Act, being offences under subsection (3) or (5) above.

• (7) A local authority may appoint with or without remuneration such officers and servants as may be necessary for the superintendence of parking places.

• (8) Nothing in subsections (1) to (4) above shall affect the Restriction of Ribbon Development (Power to Provide Parking Places) Order 1936, so far as it applies to the City of London or apply to any byelaws having effect as respects the City of London by virtue of that Order; and that Order, so far as it so applies, shall continue to have effect by virtue of this subsection.

Provisions supplemental to ss. 28 to 31.

32

• (5) A local authority may contribute towards the expenses incurred by any other authority in the exercise of their powers under sections 28, 29(1), 30 and 31(7) of this Act.

• (6) A local authority in Scotland may borrow such sums as they may require for the purposes of the provisions mentioned in subsection (5) above.

Omnibus and coach stations.

33

• (1) Subject to subsection (1A) below and to sections 84A, 84B and 84C of this Act, where, in pursuance of the powers conferred by section 28 of this Act, a local authority provide a parking place which may be used by public service vehicles, the local authority may, if they think fit,—

• (a) by order appoint that parking place as a station for, or for a specified class of, such vehicles ;

• (b) in England or Wales by regulation, and in Scotland by order, declare that section 31(5) of this Act shall not apply to public service vehicles, either absolutely or to such extent as may be specified in the regulation or order.

• (1A) Without prejudice to subsection (1) and to any regulations under subsection (2) or (4) of section 84C of this Act, before making an order under subsection (1)(a) above otherwise than in pursuance of a direction given by the Minister under section 84A(1) of this Act, the local authority shall consult—

• (a) with the appropriate traffic commissioners; and

• (b) if the local authority's area is situated wholly or partly within an area designated under section 9(1) of the Transport Act 1968, with the Executive for that area ;

and, if the order is required to be submitted to the Minister for his consent under section 84B of this Act, the authority shall so consult before so submitting it.

• (2) Where a parking place is appointed under this section as a station for public service vehicles, the local authority may—

• (a) do all such things as are necessary to adapt the parking place for use as such a station, and in particular provide and maintain waiting rooms, ticket offices and lavatories, and other similar accommodation, in connection therewith;

• (b) make reasonable charges for the use of, or let on hire to any person, any accommodation so provided; and

• (c) make regulations as to the use of any such accommodation.

• (3) A local authority shall have power to make such reasonable charges for the use of a parking place, not being part of a street, as a station for public service vehicles as may be fixed by the local authority, so however that if the public service vehicle licence holder in respect of any vehicles using the parking place as a station considers that the charges fixed are unreasonable, then, in default of agreement between the licence holder and the local authority for a reduction thereof, the charges in respect of those vehicles shall be such as may be determined by the appropriate traffic commissioners.

• (5) In this section, the expression " the appropriate traffic commissioners " means the commissioners for any traffic area constituted for the purposes of Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1960 in which the area or any part of the area of the local authority is situate.

• (8) The powers conferred on a local authority by subsections (1) and (2) above shall be in addition to, and not in substitution for, the powers conferred on a local authority by sections 28 and 29(1) of this Act.

• (9) The purposes of this section shall be purposes for which a local authority may borrow.

Provisions as to foreshore in Scotland.

34

• (1) Nothing in sections 28, 29(1), 30(1) and 33 of this Act shall authorise the execution of any works on, over or under tidal lands in Scotland below high-water mark of ordinary spring tides except in accordance with such plans and sections and subject to such restrictions and regulations as previous to such works' being commenced have been approved in writing by the Board of Trade.

• (2) The functions of the Board of Trade under this section may be exercised by the President of the Board of Trade, any Minister of State with duties concerning the affairs of the Board, any secretary, under-secretary or assistant secretary of the Board, or any person authorised in that behalf by the President of the Board.

Parking places (general provisions): on highways for payment

Provision on highways of parking places where charges made.

35

• (1) Subject to sections 84A, 84B and 84C of this Act, the following authority, namely—

• (a) as respects any part of Greater London, the Greater London Council on the application of the local authority;

• (b) as respects any other area, the local authority with the consent, if they are not the highway authority for the highway in question, of that highway authority,

may by order designate parking places on highways in the local authority's area for vehicles or vehicles of any class specified in the order, and the local authority may make charges for vehicles left in any parking place so designated of such amount as is prescribed under section 36 of this Act.

• (1A) Any order under this section, whether made under subsection (1) above or under subsection (5) below, may designate any parking place for use, either at all times or at times specified in the order, only by such persons or vehicles, or such persons or vehicles of any class specified in the order, as may be authorised for the purpose by a permit from the authority operating the parking place; and that authority may, in the case of any particular parking place and any particular vehicle, or any vehicle of a particular class, instead of making a charge as mentioned in the said subsection (1) or (5), issue a permit for that vehicle to be left in that parking place while the permit remains in force either at all times or at such times as may be specified in the permit and make such charge in connection with the issue or use of that permit of such amount payable in such manner as the authority by whom the designation order was made may by order prescribe ; but no charge shall be made by virtue of this subsection in respect of a public service vehicle.

• (2) In determining what parking places are to be designated under this section the authority concerned shall consider both the interests of traffic and those of the owners and occupiers of adjoining property, and in particular the matters to which that authority shall have regard shall include—

• (a) the need for maintaining the free movement of traffic, and

• (b) the need for maintaining reasonable access to premises, and

• (c) the extent to which parking accommodation (whether open or covered) otherwise than on highways is available in the neighbourhood or the provision thereof is likely to be encouraged there by the designation of parking places under this section.

• (3) The exercise by any authority of functions under this section shall not render the authority subject to any liability in respect of the loss of or damage to any vehicle in a parking place or the contents or fittings of any such vehicle.

• (4) In this section and sections 36 to 44 of this Act " local authority " means the council of a county borough or county district, the Common Council of the City of London or the council of a London borough or, in Scotland, a county council or a town council and " the local authority ", in relation to a parking place or proposed parking place on any site, means that one of the said councils in whose area the site is.

• (5) If it appears to the Greater London Council, without any application being made by the local authority, that it is expedient that parking places be designated under this section on highways at any sites in Greater London, then, subject to sections 84A, 84B and 84C of this Act, they may by order designate those parking places for vehicles or vehicles of any class specified in the order, and may make charges for vehicles left in any parking place so designated of such amount as is prescribed under section 36 of this Act; and—

• (a) in relation to parking places designated by virtue of this subsection references in sections 36 and 37 of this Act to the local authority shall be construed as references to the Greater London Council;

• (b) if the Greater London Council enter into an agreement with the local authority for the transfer to the local authority of the operation of any parking place so designated, the operation thereof, and such apparatus or other things held by, and rights or liabilities of, the Greater London Council in connection with the parking place as may be specified in the agreement, shall be transferred as from such date and on such terms (including terms as to the making of payments to or by the Greater London Council) as may be so specified;

• (c) from the taking effect of any such transfer of the operation of a parking place the order designating the parking place shall have effect subject to such modifications (if any) as the Greater London Council may direct, being modifications appearing to them requisite in consequence of the transfer, and the provisions of this section and sections 36, 37, 42 and 44 of this Act shall thereafter apply as if the parking place had been designated by order made on the application of the local authority.

• (6) Where an order has been made under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above on the application of a local authority, an order under that paragraph by virtue of section 84D(1) of this Act varying or revoking the first-mentioned order may be made without such an application.

• (7) Subject to sections 84A, 84B and 84C of this Act, in any case where it appears to the authority concerned to be expedient so to do having regard to any objections duly made in respect of proposals made by that authority for a designation order or, where that authority are the Greater London Council, in respect of an application made to that Council for such an order, they may, if they think fit, make an interim order pursuant to the proposals or application in respect of any one or more of the sites affected or in respect of any part of any of those sites and postpone for further consideration the making of any further order in pursuance of the proposals or application.

• (9) Nothing in this section shall affect the operation of section 6 or 28 of this Act.

Regulation of parking in places designated under s. 35.

36

• (1) Subject to sections 84A, 84B and 84C of this Act, the authority by whom a designation order is made shall by order prescribe any charges to be paid for vehicles left in a parking place designated by the order, and any such charge may be prescribed either—

• (a) as an amount (hereinafter referred to as an initial charge) payable in respect of an initial period and an amount (thereinafter referred to as an excess charge) payable, in addition to an initial charge, in respect of any excess over an initial period ; or

• (b) as an amount payable regardless of the period for which a vehicle is left.

• (2) Subject to the said sections 84A, 84B and 84C, the authority by whom a designation order is made may by order make such provision as may appear to that authority to be necessary or expedient for regulating or restricting the use of any parking place designated by the order, or otherwise for or in connection with the operation of such a parking place, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, provision—

• (a) for regulating the time at which and the method by which any charge is to be paid and for requiring the use of apparatus of such type or design as may be approved by the appropriate Minister, either generally or specially (hereinafter referred to as a parking meter) being apparatus designed either—

• (i) to indicate whether any charge has been paid and whether the period for which it has been paid or any further period has elapsed, or

• (ii) to indicate the time and to issue tickets indicating the payment of a charge and the period in respect of which it has been paid ;

• (b) for treating the indications given by a parking meter or any ticket issued by it, or the absence of any such ticket from a vehicle left in a parking place, as evidence, and in Scotland sufficient evidence, of such facts as may be provided by the order;

• (c) for prohibiting the insertion in a parking meter of coins additional to those inserted by way of payment of any charge;

• (d) for enabling the local authority to determine, subject to any restrictions specified in the order, the number and dimensions of the spaces in which vehicles may be left in a parking place ;

• (e) for authorising the alteration of the position in a parking place or the removal from a parking place of vehicles in respect of which any order relating to the parking place has been contravened or not complied with and for the safe custody of vehicles so removed;

• (f) for exempting from the payment of any charge any vehicle left in a parking place in such circumstances as may be specified in the order and for treating any vehicles so exempted as having been left there, and the charge from which it is exempted as having been paid, at such time as may be so specified ;

• (g) for prohibiting or restricting the carrying on of trade or other activities, or the doing of any other thing, at a parking place;

• (h) for conferring on the local authority powers of illuminating parking places, and of erecting notices or signs and carrying out work on or in the vicinity of a parking place;

• (i) for regulating the grant, revocation and surrender of any permit such as is mentioned in section 35(1A) of this Act and the issue, use and surrender of tokens indicating the holding of such a permit or the payment of any charge in connection with the issue or use of the permit, for requiring a vehicle to which such a permit applies to display the permit or such a token when left in any parking place to which the permit applies, and for treating the display of or failure to display the permit or such a token on any vehicle left at a parking place as evidence, and in Scotland sufficient evidence, of such facts as may be provided by the order;

• (j) for the refund in such circumstances and in such manner as may be prescribed by the order of the amount of any charge paid in advance by virtue of the said section 35(1A).

Provisions supplementary to ss. 35 and 36.

37

• (1) Where, under a designation order, vehicles may not be left at all times in the parking place designated by it—

• (a) the parking place shall for the purpose of sections 36 and 42 of this Act be treated, as respects any time during which vehicles may not be left there in pursuance of the order, as if it were not designated by the order ;

• (b) any vehicle left in the parking place which remains there at the beginning of a period during which vehicles may be left there in pursuance of the order shall for the purposes of those sections be treated as if it had been left there at the beginning of that period, but without prejudice to any rights or liabilities in respect of anything done or omitted at any time before the beginning or after the end of that period.

• (2) A designation order may revoke the designation of any place as a parking place under section 6 or 28 of this Act, and such an order, or an order under either of those sections containing a designation of a place as a parking place, may provide that the designation shall not have effect as respects any time as respects which provision is made under section 35 of this Act for the leaving of vehicles in that place.

• (3) Subject to sections 84A, 84B and 84C of this Act, the authority by whom a parking place is designated under section 35 of this Act may by order empower the local authority, the chief officer of police or any other person specified by or under the order to provide for the moving, in case of emergency, of vehicles left in the parking place, to suspend the use of the parking place or any part thereof on such occasions or in such circumstances as may be determined by or under the order, and to provide for the temporary removal of any parking meters installed at the parking place.

• (4) Any local authority may acquire, whether by purchase or by hiring, such parking meters and other apparatus as appear to the authority to be required or likely to be required for the purposes of their functions under sections 35 and 36 of this Act and of this section.

• (5) Where provision is made for the use of parking meters it shall be the duty of the local authority to take the prescribed steps for the periodical inspection of the meters and for dealing with any found to be out of order, and for securing the testing of the meters (both before they are brought into use and not less frequently thereafter than may be prescribed or on other prescribed occasions) and for recording in the prescribed manner the date on which and the person by whom a meter has been tested ; and in this subsection the expression " prescribed " means prescribed by order of the appropriate Minister made by statutory instrument, which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament, and the power to make an order under this subsection shall include power to make an order varying or revoking any previous order thereunder.

• (6) Where provision is made for the use of apparatus other than parking meters, subsection (5) above shall apply to such apparatus as it applies to a parking meter.

Designation orders outside Greater London.

39

• (1) A designation order made in respect of highways in any area outside Greater London may include such provisions—

• (a) for any of the purposes specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 1(3) of this Act, or

• (b) for authorising the use, without charge (but subject to such, if any, conditions as may be specified in the order), of any part of a road as a parking place for vehicles or for vehicles of such classes as may be specified in the order,

as the authority making the order may consider appropriate in connection with the designation order; and a designation order making provision for any of the purposes referred to in paragraph (a) above may vary or revoke any subsisting provision made for any of those purposes under section 1 of this Act.

• (2) A designation order making such provision as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above may include provision for the removal, from any place authorised by virtue of that paragraph to be used as a parking place, of any vehicle left there in contravention of the order, and for the safe custody of the vehicle.

Provisions supplementary to ss. 35 to 39.

40

• (2) Anything authorised or required by the provisions of sections 35, 36 and 37 of this Act to be prescribed or to be done by order may, save as otherwise expressly required, be prescribed or done either by a designation order or by a general order.

Limitation of right to challenge designation orders in legal proceedings.

41

• (1) If any person desires to question the validity of a designation order, or of any provision contained in the order, on the ground that it is not within the powers of sections 35, 36, 37 and 39 of this Act, or on the ground that any requirement of those sections or of section 84A, 84B or 84C of this Act or of any regulations made under the said section 84C has not been complied with in relation to the order, he may, within six weeks from the date on which the order is made, make an application for the purpose to the High Court or the Court of Session, as the case may be.

• (2) On any application under subsection (1) above, the court—

• (a) may, by interim order, suspend the operation of the designation order, or of any provision of that order, either generally or so far as may be necessary for the protection of the interests of the applicant, until the final determination of the proceedings ; and

• (b) if satisfied that the designation order, or any provision of that order, is not within the said powers, or that the interests of the applicant have been substantially prejudiced by failure to comply with any of the said requirements, may quash the designation order, or any provision of that order, either generally or so far as may be necessary as aforesaid.

• (3) Except as provided by this section, a designation order shall not, either before or after it has been made, be questioned in any legal proceedings whatever.

Offences relating to parking places on highways where charges made.

42

• (1) A person who—

• (a) being the driver of a vehicle, leaves a vehicle in a parking place designated by a designation order otherwise than as authorised by or under an order relating to the parking place, or leaves the vehicle therein for longer after the excess charge has been incurred than the time so authorised, or fails duly to pay any charge payable under section 35 of this Act, or contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of an order relating to the parking place as to the manner in which vehicles shall stand in, or be driven into or out of, the parking place, or

• (b) whether being the driver of a vehicle or not, otherwise contravenes or fails to comply with any order relating to parking places designated by designation orders,

shall, subject to subsection (3) below, be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5 or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding £10.

• (2) In relation to an offence under subsection (1)(a) above of leaving a vehicle for longer after the excess charge has been incurred than the time authorised by an order relating to the parking place, or failing duly to pay any charge payable under section 35 of this Act, the reference in that paragraph to the driver of a vehicle shall be construed as a reference to the person driving the vehicle at the time it was left in the parking place.

• (3) Where a parking meter relating to the space in which a vehicle is left in a parking place designated by a designation order indicates that the period for which payment made for the vehicle by an initial charge has expired, but the authority by whom the parking place is controlled is satisfied that that charge was not paid, acceptance by that authority of payment of the excess charge shall be a bar to proceedings for an offence under subsection (1)(a) above of failing duly to pay the initial charge.

• (4) A person who, with intent to defraud, interferes with a parking meter or operates or attempts to operate a parking meter by the insertion of objects other than current coins of the appropriate denomination shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

• (4A) Where, in the case of any vehicle with respect to which there has been issued any authorisation by way of such a certificate, other means of identification or device as is referred to in section 1(3C) or (3D) or section 6(5) or (6) or such a permit or token as is referred to in section 36(2)(i) of this Act, the authority by whom any parking place designated by a designation order is controlled is satisfied that, in accordance with the terms on which the authorisation was issued, a charge has become payable and has not been paid in respect of any period for which that vehicle has been left in that parking place, acceptance by that authority of payment of the amount of that charge shall be a bar to proceedings for an offence under subsection (1)(a) above of failing duly to pay the charge.

• (5) Where, in any proceedings in England and Wales for an offence under this section of failing to pay any charge, it is proved that the amount which has become due, or any part of that amount, has not been duly paid, the court shall order the payment of the sum not paid, and any sum ordered to be paid by virtue of this subsection shall be recoverable as a penalty.

• (6) In any proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be assumed, unless the contrary is shown, that any apparatus provided for the purposes of a parking place, being an apparatus operated by the insertion of coins, is of a type and design approved by the appropriate Minister.

• (7) Where in any proceedings for an offence under this section of failing to pay an excess charge it is not proved that the excess charge had become due, but is proved that an initial charge has not been paid, the defendant may be convicted of an offence under this section of failing to pay an initial charge.

• (8) In England or Wales a local authority or the Greater London Council may institute proceedings for an offence under this section in connection with a parking place controlled by them.

• (10) In this section " excess charge ", " initial charge " and " parking meter " have the same meanings as in section 36 of this Act.

Contravention, etc., of provisions of certain designation orders.

43

• (1) Section 42 of this Act shall not apply to contraventions of, or failures to comply with, any provisions of a designation order having effect by virtue of section 39(1) of this Act.

• (2) A person who uses a vehicle, or causes or permits a vehicle to be used, in contravention of any provision of a designation order having effect by virtue of the said section 39(1)(a) shall be liable on summary conviction, in the case of an offence committed in respect of a motor vehicle by a failure to comply with a requirement to proceed or not to proceed in a specified direction or along a specified part of the carriageway, to a fine not exceeding £50 and, in any other case, to a fine not exceeding £20.

• (3) In the event of a contravention of, or non-compliance with, a provision of a designation order having effect by virtue of the said section 39(1)(b), the person responsible (as determined in accordance with the order) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5 or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding £10.

• (4) In England or Wales the council of a county borough or county district may institute proceedings for an offence under subsection (3) above in connection with a parking place in their area.

Financial provisions relating to exercise of powers under s. 35.

44

• (1) A local authority shall keep an account of their income and expenditure in respect of parking places designated by designation orders for which they are the local authority.

• (2) At the end of each financial year any deficit in the account shall be made good out of the general rate fund and any surplus shall be applied for all or any of the purposes specified in subsection (3) below, and in so far as not so applied shall be appropriated to the carrying out of some specific project falling within those purposes and carried forward until applied to the carrying out thereof:

Provided that if the local authority so determine any amount not applied in any financial year may instead of being or remaining appropriated as aforesaid be carried forward in the account kept under subsection (1) above to the next financial year, but shall not be carried forward from one quadrennial period to another without the consent of the appropriate Minister.

• (3) The said purposes are the following, that is to say:—

• (a) the making good to the general rate fund of any amounts charged to that fund under subsection (2) above in the four years immediately preceding the financial year in question;

• (b) meeting all or any part of the cost of the provision and maintenance by the local authority of parking accommodation for vehicles otherwise than on highways and whether in the open or under cover;

• (c) the making to other local authorities, to any county council, to the Greater London Council or, with the consent of the appropriate Minister, to other persons, of contributions towards the cost of the provision and maintenance by them in the area of the local authority or elsewhere of parking accommodation for vehicles otherwise than on highways and whether in the open or under cover;

• (d) if it appears to the local authority that the provision in their area of further parking accommodation for vehicles otherwise than on highways is for the time being unnecessary or undesirable, the following purposes, namely—

• (i) meeting costs incurred, whether by the local authority or by some other person, in the provision or operation of, or of facilities for, public passenger transport services;

• (ii) purposes of a project connected with the carrying out by the appropriate highway authority (whether or not the local authority) of any operation which within the meaning of the Highways Act 1959 constitutes the improvement of a highway in the local authority's area or, in the case of an authority in Scotland, of any work or operation on any highway in the local authority's area which is authorised by any of the enactments specified in subsection (3A) below.

• (3A) The enactments referred to in subsection (3)(d)(ii) above are—

• (a) sections LXXXIV, LXXXV, XCIV and C of Schedule C to the Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act 1878;

• (b) section 130 of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892;

• (c) section 8(5) of the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act 1909 ;

• (d) section 58 of the Road Traffic Act 1930 ;

• (e) section 4 of the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act 1935;

• (f) section 3(2) of the Trunk Roads Act 1946 ;

• (g) the Highways (Provision of Cattle Grids) Act 1950 ;

• (h) section 45 of the Road Traffic Act 1956.

• (4) In this section " quadrennial period " means, in relation to a local authority, a period beginning with the date when the local authority first kept the account required by subsection (1) above and ending with the fourth complete financial year after that date, or a period of four years beginning immediately after the expiration of a quadrennial period.

• (5) In relation to parking places designated, by virtue of section 35(5) of this Act, by an order of the Greater London Council, references in this section to the local authority shall be construed as references to that Council.

Grants towards cost of off-street parking places

Grants towards cost of provision and maintenance of off-street parking places.

45

• (1) Where by virtue of section 84A(2) of this Act a parking place has been designated under section 35 of this Act by a Minister, that Minister may make grants out of moneys provided by Parliament towards the cost of the provision and maintenance of off-street parking places, whether in the open or under cover, or for any purpose such as is mentioned in section 44(3)(d)(i) or (ii) of this Act, but in exercising his powers under this section shall use his best endeavours to secure that the aggregate of the amounts paid by him by way of grants does not exceed the difference between the aggregate of the sums received by him by way of charges made by him for vehicles left in parking places designated by him under the said section 35, and the aggregate of the expenses incurred by him in the provision, operation and maintenance of the parking places in respect of which those charges are made.

Parish parking places for bicycles and motor cycles

Power of parish councils to provide parking places for bicycles and motor cycles.

46

• (1) Where for the purpose of relieving or preventing congestion of traffic or preserving local amenities it appears to a parish council in England or Wales to be necessary to provide within the parish suitable parking places for bicycles and motor cycles, the parish council may provide and maintain such parking places in accordance with the provisions of this section, and for that purpose (or for the purpose of providing means of entrance to and egress from any parking place provided under this section) may—

• (a) utilize and adapt any land purchased by the council for the purpose or appropriated for the purpose under subsection (2) below, or

• (b) subject to the provisions of section 47 of this Act, adapt and by order authorise the use of any part of a road within the parish;

and the power under this subsection to provide and maintain parking places shall include power to provide and maintain structures for use as parking places.

• (2) Notwithstanding anything in any other enactment, a parish council may, with the consent of the Minister of Housing and Local Government, appropriate for the purpose of providing a parking place under this section—

• (a) any part of a recreation ground provided or maintained by the council under section 8 of the Local Government Act 1894;

• (b) any part of an open space controlled or maintained by the council under the Open Spaces Act 1906, other than a part which has been consecrated as a burial ground or in which burials have taken place;

• (c) any part of any land provided by the council as a playing field or for any other purpose under section 4 of the Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937:

Provided that any part so appropriated shall not exceed one-eighth of the total area of the recreation ground, open space or land concerned, or eight hundred square feet, whichever is the less.

• (3) No order under subsection (1) above shall authorise the use of any part of a road as a parking place under this section so as unreasonably to prevent access to any premises adjoining the road, or the use of the road by any person entitled to use it, or so as to be a nuisance.

• (4) A parish council may employ with or without remuneration such persons as may be necessary for the superintendence of parking places provided by the council under this section.

• (5) A parish council may make byelaws (subject to confirmation by the Minister) as to the use of parking places provided under this section, and in particular as to the conditions upon which any such, parking place may be used and as to the charges to be paid to the council in connection with the use of any parking place not being part of a road; and a copy of any byelaws made under this subsection shall be exhibited on or near every parking place to which they relate.

• (6) A parish council may let for use as a parking place any parking place provided by them (not being part of a road) under this section; but, without prejudice to any power of a parish council under any other enactment to let a playing field or other land of which a parking place forms part, no single letting under this subsection shall be for a longer period than seven days.

• (7) The exercise by a parish council of their powers under this section with respect to the use as a parking place of any part of a road shall not render them subject to any liability in respect of loss of or damage to any vehicle or the fittings or contents of any vehicle parked in such a parking place.

• (8) An order made under this section may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order made in like manner.

• (9) In the application of this section to Wales and Monmouthshire subsection (2) shall have effect as if for the reference to the Minister of Housing and Local Government there were substituted a reference to the Secretary of State.

Provisions as to consents for purposes of s. 46.

47

• (1) A parish council shall not have power by virtue of section 46 of this Act to provide a parking place—

• (a) in a position obstructing or interfering with any existing access to any land or premises not forming part of a road, except with the consent of the owner and the occupier of the land or premises ; or

• (b) in a road which is not a highway or in a public path, except with the consent of the owner and the occupier of the land over which the road or path runs; or

• (c) in any such situation or position as is described in the first column of the following Table, except with the consent of the persons described in relation thereto in the second column of that Table.

In a trunk road or any other road maintained by the Minister or the Secretary of State for Wales or on land abutting on any such road.	The Minister or the Secretary of State, as the case may be.
In a road which is a highway (other than a trunk road or a road maintained as aforesaid or a public path) or on land abutting on any such road.	The county council.
In a road which is a highway belonging to and repairable by any railway, dock, harbour, canal, inland navigation or passenger road transport undertakers and forming the approach to any station, dock, wharf or depot of those undertakers.	The undertakers concerned.
On a bridge carrying a highway over a railway, dock, harbour, canal or inland navigation, or on the approaches to any such bridge or under a bridge carrying a railway, canal or inland navigation over a highway.	The railway, dock, harbour, canal or inland navigation undertakers concerned.

• (2) Any consent required by subsection (1)(c) above shall not be unreasonably withheld, but may be given subject to any reasonable conditions, including a condition that the parish council shall remove any thing to the provision of which the consent relates either at any time or at or after the expiration of a period if reasonably required so to do by the person giving the consent.

• (3) A dispute between a parish council and a person whose consent is required under subsection (1)(c) above whether that consent is unreasonably withheld or is given subject to reasonable conditions, or whether the removal of any thing to the provision of which the consent relates in accordance with any condition of the consent is reasonably required, shall—

• (a) in the case of a dispute between the parish council and the Minister or the Secretary of State, be referred to and determined by an arbitrator to be appointed in default of agreement by the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers ; and

• (b) in any other case, be referred to and determined by the Minister, who may cause a public inquiry to be held for the purpose.

• (4) Section 6 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1953 (which makes provision as to access to telegraphic lines, sewers, pipe-subways, pipes, wires and other apparatus) shall apply in relation to a parking place (including a structure for use as a parking place) provided by a parish council under section 46 of this Act, and to the council by which the parking place is so provided, as it applies in relation to a shelter or other accommodation provided, and to the local authority by which it is provided, under section 4 of that Act

• (5) In this section and in the said section 6 as they apply in relation to a parking place provided under the said section 46 which forms part of a road, references to removal shall be construed as including references to the suspension or revocation of the order authorising the use of that part of the road as a parking place.

Provisions ancillary to exercise of powers under s. 46.

48

• (1) A parish council may contribute towards—

• (a) the reasonable expenses incurred by any person in doing anything which by virtue of section 46 of this Act that council has power to do ; and

• (b) the expenses incurred by any other parish council in exercising their powers under that section.

• (2) Where, before 17th July 1957, a parish council have provided anything which could be provided by them under the said section 46 or where, before 1st September 1960 (whether before or after 17th July 1957) or on or after 1st September 1960, any other person has provided any such thing, the parish council shall have the like power to maintain that thing as if it had been provided by them under the said section 46.

• (3) Without prejudice to any other power of combination, a parish council may by agreement combine with any other parish council for the purpose of exercising the powers conferred by the said section 46.

Application of ss. 46 to 48 to boroughs included in rural districts.

49

Sections 46,47 and 48 of this Act shall apply to the council of a borough included in a rural district as they apply to a parish council, and in their application to the council of a borough so included references therein to the parish shall be construed as references to the borough.

Interpretation of ss. 46 to 49.

50

In sections 46 to 49 of this Act, except so far as the context otherwise requires,—

• " in " in a context referring to things in a road includes a reference to things under, over, across, along or upon the road;

• " owner " has the meaning assigned to it by section 343 of the Public Health Act 1936 ;

• " parish " in relation to a common parish council acting for two or more grouped parishes means those parishes;

• " public path " has the meaning assigned to it by section 27 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949;

• " road " means a highway (including a public path) and any other road, lane, footway, square, court, alley or passage (whether a thoroughfare or not) to which the public has access, but does not include a road provided or to be provided in pursuance of a scheme made or having effect as if made under section 11 of the Highways Act 1959.

Parking of vehicles in Royal Parks

Power to provide for charges for parking in Royal Parks.

51

Regulations under section 2 of the Parks Regulation (Amendment) Act 1926 may make provision for imposing and recovering charges for the leaving of vehicles, or vehicles of any class, in any park to which that Act applies; and regulations made by virtue of this section may make, as respects charges and penalties recoverable under the regulations, provision corresponding with the provisions of section 42(5) of this Act.

Provisions as to vehicles removed from parking places, etc.

Charges for removing and storing vehicles.

52

• (1) Where a vehicle is removed from a road in pursuance of regulations under section 20 of this Act, or is removed from a parking place in pursuance of an order under section 31(1) thereof or of an order relating to a parking place designated under section 35 thereof, or of a provision of a designation order having effect by virtue of section 39(2) thereof, there shall be payable to the appropriate authority by the prescribed person—

• (a) in respect of the removal, the fixed charge, and

• (b) in respect of any period during which the vehicle is in the custody of that authority, a charge ascertained by reference to the prescribed scale.

• (2) The fixed charge in respect of the removal of a vehicle shall be £2 or such other sum (whether greater or smaller) as may be prescribed.

• (3) In England or Wales, a charge under this section not exceeding £20 may be recovered either as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or summarily as a civil debt and a charge under this section exceeding £20 may be recovered in the former manner.

• (4) In this section " appropriate authority "—

• (a) in relation to a vehicle removed by a constable, means the chief officer of the police force to which the constable belongs;

• (b) in relation to a vehicle removed by a person acting in aid of a police force, means the chief officer of that force;

• (c) in relation to a vehicle removed by a person other than as aforesaid from a parking place provided or controlled by a local authority, means that authority;

• (d) in relation to a vehicle removed by a person other than as aforesaid from a parking place in Greater London designated under section 6 of this Act, means the local authority (being the Common Council of the City of London or the council of the London borough) within whose area the parking place is situate ;

• (e) in relation to a vehicle removed by a person other than as aforesaid from a road otherwise than from a parking place, means the local authority (being the council of the county borough or county district, the Common Council of the City of London or the council of the London borough or in Scotland the county council or town council) within whose area is situate the length of road from which the vehicle is removed;

and " prescribed " means prescribed by order made by the appropriate Minister; and for the purposes of paragraph (c) above a parking place provided under a letting or arrangements made by a local authority in pursuance of section 29(6) of this Act shall be treated as provided by them.

• (5) In relation to parking places designated, by virtue of section 35(5) of this Act, by an order of the Greater London Council, references in this section to the local authority shall be construed as references to that Council.

• (6) Any sum recovered under this section by the chief officer of a police force shall be paid into the police fund.

• (7) An order made under this section by the appropriate Minister may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order made by him.

• (8) The powers conferred by this section on the appropriate Minister to make orders shall be exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (10) The foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect subject to the provisions of any order for the time being in force under section 25 of the Civic Amenities Act 1967.

Disposal of vehicles abandoned on roads or in parking places.

53

• (1) Regulations under section 20 of this Act, an order under section 31(1) thereof, an order relating to a parking place designated under section 35 thereof or an order containing a provision having effect by virtue of section 39(2) thereof may contain provision as respects a vehicle which has been, or could at any time be, removed in pursuance of the regulations or order,—

• (a) for authorising the competent authority, if it appears to them that the vehicle has been abandoned, to sell or otherwise dispose of it;

• (b) for authorising the application of the proceeds of a sale by the competent authority of the vehicle in or towards satisfaction of any costs incurred by them in connection with the disposal thereof or any charge to payment of which they are entitled as regards the vehicle under section 52 of this Act;

• (c) for recouping the competent authority any such costs as aforesaid so far as not satisfied by virtue of paragraph (b) above;

• (d) for regulating the disposal of any sums received by the competent authority on a sale of the vehicle, after deducting any sum applied thereout by virtue of paragraph (b) above.

• (2) Any such regulations or order as are or is referred to in subsection (1) above shall be so framed as to secure that a power of disposal conferred thereby shall not be exercisable in the case of a vehicle unless there have been taken by the competent authority such steps and there has elapsed such period (not being less than six weeks) beginning with the taking of the first of them as may be prescribed by the regulations or order, being steps and a period whose respective taking and lapse will, in the opinion of the Minister of the Crown or other the authority making the regulations or order, together suffice for securing adequate opportunity for enabling the vehicle to be claimed.

• (3) Different provision may be made under this section with respect to vehicles of different classes or with respect to vehicles of the same class in different circumstances.

• (4) In this section " competent authority ", in relation to a vehicle that has been removed, means the authority who, in relation to it, are (within the meaning of section 52 of this Act) the appropriate authority and, in relation to a vehicle that could at any time be removed, either of the two authorities who, if it were then removed, could in relation to it respectively be (within the meaning of that section) the appropriate authority.

• (5) The foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect subject to the provisions of any order for the time being in force under section 25 of the Civic Amenities Act 1967.

Traffic signs

Traffic signs.

54

• (1) In this Act " traffic sign " means any object or device (whether fixed or portable) for conveying, to traffic on roads or any specified class of traffic, warnings, information, requirements, restrictions or prohibitions of any description specified by regulations made by the Minister and the Secretary of State acting jointly or authorised by the appropriate Minister, and any fine or mark on a road for so conveying such warnings, information, requirements, restrictions or prohibitions.

• (2) Traffic signs shall be of the size, colour and type prescribed by regulations made as aforesaid except where the appropriate Minister authorises the erection or retention of a sign of another character; and for the purpose of this subsection illumination, whether by lighting or by the use of reflectors or reflecting material, or the absence of such illumination, shall be part of the type or character of a sign.

• (3) Regulations under this section may be made so as to apply either generally or in such circumstances only as may be specified in the regulations.

• (4) Except as provided by this Act, no traffic sign shall be placed on or near a road except—

• (a) a notice in respect of the use of a bridge;

• (b) a traffic sign placed, in pursuance of powers conferred by a special Act of Parliament or order having the force of an Act, by the owners or workers of a tramway, light railway, or trolley vehicle undertaking, a dock undertaking or a harbour undertaking;

• (c) a traffic sign placed on any land by a person authorised under the following provisions of this Act to place the sign on a highway, being a sign placed on that land for a purpose for which that person is authorised to place it on a highway.

• (5) Regulations under this section, or any authorisation under subsection (2) above, may provide that section 14 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 (drivers to comply with traffic directions) shall apply to signs of a type specified in that behalf by the regulations, or as the case may be to the sign to which the authorisation relates.

• (6) References in any enactment (including any enactment contained in this Act) to the erection or placing of traffic signs shall include references to the display thereof in any manner, whether or not involving fixing or placing.

Powers and duties of highway authorities as to placing of traffic signs.

55

• (1) Subject to and in conformity with such general directions as may be given by the Minister and the Secretary of State acting jointly, or such other directions as may be given by the appropriate Minister, a highway authority may cause or permit traffic signs to be placed on or near any road in their area.

• (2) The appropriate Minister may give directions to a highway authority—

• (a) for the placing of a traffic sign of any prescribed type or authorised character specified in the directions ;

• (b) for replacing a sign so specified by, or converting it into, a sign of another prescribed type or authorised character so specified.

• (3) The power to give general directions under subsection (1) above shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

Powers and duties of Greater London Council in respect of traffic signs.

56

• (1) The Greater London Council (hereafter in this section referred to as " the Council ") may, to such extent as the Council may consider necessary, in connection with any order under section 6 or 9 of this Act made or proposed to be made by the Council, exercise, as respects any road in Greater London which is not a trunk road, any powers exercisable by the highway authority for that road in connection with the placing of traffic signs on or near that road in pursuance of section 55 of this Act, and affix any such sign to any lamppost or other structure in the highway, whether or not belonging to the Council.

• (2) The Council may give to the highway authority for any road in Greater London which is not a trunk road such directions with respect to the adjustment, modification or replacement of, or of any part of, the mechanism of traffic signs, being light signals controlled by that authority, as the Council may consider expedient in the interests of the movement of traffic.

• (3) As respects any traffic sign lawfully in place in Greater London which is required in connection with an order under section 6 or 9 of this Act, it shall be the duty of the Council—

• (a) to take such steps to maintain, and to make such alteration of, that sign as may be necessary or expedient in connection with any such order in connection with which it is required ;

• (b) to remove that sign if it ceases to be required in connection with any such order.

Power of certain traffic authorities in respect of traffic signs.

56A

• (1) This section applies to any authority having power to make an order under or by virtue of any of the following provisions of this Act, namely, sections 1(1) to (7), 5, 12, 15, 26, 26A, 28, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37(2) and (3), 73(3) and 74, or an order as respects a road outside Greater London under section 9 of this Act.

• (2) Without prejudice to any powers conferred by or under any other provision of this Act, but subject to subsection (3) below, an authority to whom this section applies may place and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, such traffic signs of any type prescribed or character authorised under section 54 of this Act as the authority may consider necessary in connection with any such order as aforesaid made by the authority as respects any road; but if the order is made by an authority other than the highway authority for that road, the authority by whom the order was made—

• (a) shall consult with the highway authority as to the placing of the signs ; and

• (b) unless the highway authority are unwilling so to do, shall enter into arrangements with the highway authority for the signs to be placed and maintained by the highway authority.

• (3) The powers conferred by subsection (2) above on an authority to whom this section applies shall be exercisable subject to and in conformity with any general directions given under section 55(1) of this Act whether or not that authority is a highway authority; and any other power conferred by the said section 55 to give directions to a highway authority shall include power to give the like directions to any authority to whom this section applies.

• (4) In relation to an order under section 15 or 33 of this Act, the appropriate Minister for the purposes of any directions under the said section 55 by virtue of subsection (3) above shall, notwithstanding anything in section 104(1) or section 108 of this Act, in all cases be the Minister of Transport.

Traffic signs for giving effect to local traffic regulations.

57

A constable, or a person acting under the instructions (whether general or specific) of the chief officer of police, may place on a highway, or on any structure on a highway, traffic signs of any size, colour and type prescribed or authorised under section 54 of this Act, being signs indicating prohibitions, restrictions or requirements relating to vehicular traffic, as may be requisite for giving effect to regulations, orders or directions made or given under section 52 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839, under section 22 of the local Act of the second and third year of the reign of Queen Victoria, chapter 94, under section 21 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, or under section 385 of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892, or any corresponding provision contained in a local Act relating to any part of Scotland, or for giving effect to directions given under section 12(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1960.

Emergency traffic signs.

58

• (1) A constable, or a person acting under the instructions (whether general or specific) of the chief officer of police, may place on a highway, or on any structure on a highway, traffic signs of any size, colour and type prescribed or authorised under section 54 of this Act, being signs indicating prohibitions, restrictions or requirements relating to vehicular traffic, as may be necessary or expedient to prevent or mitigate congestion or obstruction of traffic, or danger to or from traffic, in consequence of extraordinary circumstances ; and the power to place signs conferred by this subsection shall include power to maintain a sign for a period of seven days or less from the time when it was placed, but no longer.

• (2) Section 14 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 (drivers to comply with traffic directions) shall apply to signs placed in the exercise of the powers conferred by this section.

Warning devices for indicating temporary obstructions.

59

Regulations under section 54 of this Act prescribing any type of object or device for warning traffic of a temporary obstruction may include provisions for authorising, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the regulations, persons not otherwise authorised to do so to place an object or device of that type on or near roads or on or near any description of road so specified, in such circumstances and for such periods as may be so specified.

Traffic signs in connection with experimental traffic schemes in London.

60

For the purpose of giving notice of any prohibition, restriction or requirement imposed by regulations under section 11 of this Act a constable, or a person acting under the instructions (whether general or specific) of the commissioner of police of the metropolis or the commissioner of police for the City of London, may place on a highway, or on any structure on a highway, traffic signs of any size, colour and type prescribed or authorised under section 54 of this Act.

Removal of traffic signs, etc.

61

• (1) The highway authority may by notice in writing require the owner or occupier of any land on which there is an object or device (whether fixed or portable) for the guidance or direction of persons using roads to remove it, and if a person fails to comply with such a notice the highway authority may themselves effect the removal, doing as little damage as may be; and the expense incurred by them in so doing shall be recoverable by them from the person so in default and, in England or Wales, shall be so recoverable summarily as a civil debt.

• (2) The appropriate Minister may give directions to a highway authority requiring the authority to remove, or cause to be removed, any traffic sign or any such object or device as is mentioned in subsection (1) above.

• (3) After the repeal by virtue of the Road Traffic Act 1960 of section 6 of the Locomotive Act 1861, a bridge authority shall, if so directed by the appropriate Minister, remove, or cause to be removed, any notice in respect of the use of a bridge placed under that section.

Traffic signs: default powers.

62

• (1) If a highway authority, bridge authority or authority to whom section 56A of this Act applies fail to comply with any direction given under section 55(2) or 61 of this Act, the appropriate Minister may himself carry out the work required by the direction; and the expense incurred by him in so doing shall be recoverable by him from the authority and, in England or Wales, shall be so recoverable summarily as a civil debt.

• (2) Any such direction as aforesaid—

• (a) if relating to a road or bridge in England or Wales, shall be enforceable on the application of the appropriate Minister by mandamus;