These UK roads generated the most penalty charge notices for drivers last year

Drivers need to be careful when passing through these 10 ‘Beautiful Streets’. The largest number of penalty notices (PCNs) were issued last year, with drivers being fined more than £42 million in total.

A Freedom of Information request to councils revealed some streets were responsible for more than 50 per cent of all charges issued by local authorities in a 12-month period.

Corporation Street, in the heart of Birmingham city centre, was named the worst with 62,725 PCNs distributed to motorists in the last reporting financial year.

Birmingham City Council said the majority of PCNs were related to breaches of the city’s Clean Air Zone.

These would be issued to drivers of non-compliant vehicles traveling from the A38 Aston Expressway onto Corporation Street at the outer boundary of the area.

The investigation found that six of the 10 streets where the most PCN was distributed were fined more than £1 million.

The results will undoubtedly trigger serious questions from drivers about the fairness of fares.

The comparison site asked every council in the UK which street in their jurisdiction saw the most PCNs in 2024/25.

Of the 383 UK officials contacted, 359 responded with data.

PCNs are issued for numerous violations. This includes parking violations, entering bus lanes, stopping at yellow box intersections and entering low-emission zones without paying with non-compliant vehicles.

The highest number of charges were made against motorists entering Birmingham’s Corporation Street, with 62,725 PCN distributed

The data revealed £42,194,821 was collected by councils for crimes committed in the 10 streets where the most PCN was distributed over the 12-month period.

Confused said figures shared by local authorities showed a total of more than half a billion pounds (£530 million) was raised by councils in motoring PCNs in the last financial year.

Birmingham’s Corporation Street in Aston Road (incoming) yielded the most PCNs, while Station Parade in Barking had the highest income from fees at £2,030,242.

Barking & Dagenham Borough Council issued 33,419 offense tickets on this street in 2024/25; This was largely due to drivers entering a pedestrian zone.

These fines accounted for one in seven PCNs (14%) handed out by the council that year.

Meanwhile, Heaton Lane in Stockport produced 57 per cent of all PCNs distributed by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.

In 2022 the council introduced a ‘bus gate’, a short section of road that only allows buses and other designated authorized vehicles (such as taxis, bicycles and emergency vehicles) to pass, triggering an increase in PCN volumes.

A similar bus gate on Cumberland Road in Bristol – third in most published PCNs – is also likely to be responsible for almost all charging on the street when the bus gate comes into force from January 2024.

Second on the list of streets where most PCNs were issued was bustling Oxford Street in the heart of Manchester, specifically the street with a bus lane and pay and display parking between Whitworth Street and Chepstow Street.

Manchester City Council said the majority of PCNs were related to the implementation of the bus lane.

Heaton Lane in Stockport – fourth on the list – accounted for 57% of all PCNs distributed by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

A bus gate on Cumberland Road in Bristol – third in the rankings for most PCNs issued – is also probably responsible for almost all charges levied on the street

With councils collecting significant amounts of money from parking and traffic fines, it’s no surprise that many motorists are questioning how fairly these fines are issued and why.

According to a survey of 2,000 drivers in the UK, 57 per cent had received a PCN and 12 per cent had received more than one PCN on the same street.

Almost half were ticketed for parking offenses, including parking on yellow lines, failing to pay parking fees or parking in a restricted area.

These penalties are mostly imposed in dense areas; 47 per cent of drivers receive their PCN in the city centre, and another two fifths receive a ticket on a residential street.

And the cost of parking tickets can add up quickly.

A third of drivers said they had paid between £50 and £100 for parking-related PCNs.

Two in five drivers believe the current cost of parking fines is too expensive.

But a Dorset Council member is threatening to escalate charges after calling for an increase in PCNs in his area.

Last week, Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council called on the DfT to allow permanent fines of up to £160, the same level as in London, to tackle illegal parking in coastline hotspots after the top charges were successfully tried in August.

The AA warned that, if allowed, it could ‘burst the threshold on the value of charges’ imposed across the country and risk councils treating drivers as cash cows to shore up depleted local authority coffers.

Station Parade in Barking (pictured) had the highest revenue from fees with £2,030,242

The survey of drivers found that just over two in five drivers (42%) who said they had received a penalty had appealed to have them cancelled.

A quarter of them said the appeal process provided by the distribution council was ‘difficult’.

A fifth of those who objected said this was because the PCN was published ‘unfairly’. Another 15 percent said their crimes were accidental due to unclear or confusing signs or road markings.

A fifth of drivers said the introduction of low emission zones in major cities and the introduction of contentious Low Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs) had also increased the likelihood of receiving a PCN on certain streets.

Confused spokesman Matt Crole-Rees said: ‘While fines are to keep the roads safe, our research shows that an increasing number of drivers feel the system is not always clear or fair.

‘Confusing signage, changing road rules and limited parking make drivers more likely to receive fines, especially in busy areas.

‘When restrictions are not easy to understand, it becomes difficult for drivers to make confident decisions and avoid costly mistakes.

‘If you receive a PCN it is worth taking the time to check whether it has been issued correctly as some penalties may be appealed, particularly where signage or road markings are not clear.’