Parking ticket - some friendly advice required

[Bretty]

Parking on the pavement is always sketchy, unless you are clearly on someone's property, like within a boundary marked in front of a shop for example. Although everyone hates seeing bikes on the pavement.

You will never win against the council. Your best bet is to send an email or letter, apologise for your confusion, say you'll never do it again and claim some sort of financial hardship. You might just get away with it.