ParkAppeal obtained Freedom of Information data from Birmingham City Council revealing the city’s busiest on-street parking ticket locations across 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.
New Freedom of Information data obtained from Birmingham City Council has revealed 98,488 on-street parking Penalty Charge Notices across the city’s annual top-10 hotspot lists over three financial years.
Alum Rock Road topped the supplied list in every year, reaching 11,484 PCNs in 2025/26 – an average of more than 31 tickets a day. Across the full three-year period, the road accounted for 27,021 PCNs.
Using the standard £50 lower-level and £70 higher-level charges identified in the council’s response, ParkAppeal estimates that the PCNs across the supplied hotspot lists carried a potential full-value total of approximately £6.5 million. This is a calculated face-value estimate, not the amount collected by the council.
The request covered council-issued on-street parking PCNs only. It excluded off-street council car parks, bus lane PCNs, moving traffic PCNs, Clean Air Zone charges, littering penalties and private parking charges.
Official FOI source
This report is based on information supplied directly by Birmingham City Council under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
FOI reference: 85816397
Council response date: 30 June 2026
View Birmingham City Council’s official FOI response (PDF) →
Last updated: 15 July 2026
Media summary
Freedom of Information data supplied by Birmingham City Council shows 98,488 on-street parking PCNs across the 30 annual hotspot entries in its top-10 lists for 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Alum Rock Road was Birmingham’s clearest recurring hotspot, appearing first in every year and accounting for 27,021 PCNs across the three lists. Its annual total rose by 91.6%, from 5,993 in 2023/24 to 11,484 in 2025/26.
The combined annual top-10 total increased from 22,250 PCNs in 2023/24 to 41,454 in 2025/26 – a rise of 86.3% in two years.
At the standard full £50 and £70 penalty rates specified in the response, the supplied PCNs equate to an estimated £6,501,930 in potential full-value charges. This ParkAppeal calculation is not council revenue: it does not account for early-payment discounts, cancellations, successful appeals, non-payment or later enforcement outcomes.
Key findings from the Birmingham FOI response
Alum Rock Road topped Birmingham’s parking ticket list three years running
Alum Rock Road was the highest-ticketed location in every annual list supplied by Birmingham City Council.
- 5,993 PCNs in 2023/24
- 9,544 PCNs in 2024/25
- 11,484 PCNs in 2025/26
That gives a three-year total of 27,021 PCNs, representing more than one in four of all tickets across the supplied annual top-10 lists. The road’s annual count increased by 5,491 tickets between the first and last years, a rise of 91.6%.
The largest share of Alum Rock Road’s tickets – 24,755 PCNs, or 91.6% – fell within contravention code 02 and its suffix variants. Standard code 02 covers parking or loading and unloading in a restricted street where waiting and loading restrictions are in force.
Latest-year headline: Alum Rock Road’s 11,484 PCNs in 2025/26 work out at approximately 31.5 tickets per day, with an estimated potential value of £803,480 at standard full penalty rates.
Stratford Road in Sparkhill saw an even sharper rise
Stratford Road in Sparkhill was the second-highest location in each of the three supplied lists. Its annual count rose from 2,794 PCNs in 2023/24 to 7,062 in 2024/25 and 8,089 in 2025/26.
Across the three years, the location accounted for 17,945 PCNs and an estimated £1,234,690 at standard full charge levels. Its annual count increased by 189.5% between 2023/24 and 2025/26 – nearly tripling in two years.
Around 84.2% of the PCNs recorded for Stratford Road in Sparkhill were within code 46 and its suffix variants. Code 46 covers stopping where prohibited on a red route or clearway.
Together, Alum Rock Road and Stratford Road in Sparkhill accounted for 44,966 PCNs across the three annual lists – around 45.7% of the entire supplied dataset.
Birmingham’s top-10 hotspot total rose every year
The 10 highest locations supplied for each financial year totalled:
- 22,250 PCNs in 2023/24 – estimated full-value charges of £1,432,970
- 34,784 PCNs in 2024/25 – estimated full-value charges of £2,263,660
- 41,454 PCNs in 2025/26 – estimated full-value charges of £2,805,300
The annual top-10 total rose by 56.3% in 2024/25 and a further 19.2% in 2025/26. Compared with 2023/24, the latest-year total was 86.3% higher.
In 2025/26, the 10 supplied hotspot locations collectively averaged approximately 114 PCNs per day. This is the daily average for the annual top-10 locations only, not for every Birmingham street.
Three locations appeared in Birmingham’s top 10 every year
Three locations appeared in all three annual lists: Alum Rock Road, Stratford Road in Sparkhill and Washwood Heath Road.
Washwood Heath Road’s count increased from 1,577 PCNs in 2023/24 to 2,272 in 2024/25 and 3,428 in 2025/26. Across the period, it recorded 7,277 PCNs and an estimated potential full-value total of £508,550.
Gas Street, Cornwall Street and Lionel Street also appeared in each of the two most recent lists, while Corporation Street, Coventry Road, Newhall Street and Sheepcote Street appeared in both 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Waiting and loading restrictions dominated the supplied data
ParkAppeal grouped code variants by their main two-digit contravention code to identify the biggest themes across the 98,488 PCNs.
| Code family | General description | PCNs | Share of supplied total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | Restricted street with waiting and loading restrictions in force | 38,285 | 38.9% |
| 46 | Stopped where prohibited on a red route or clearway | 17,996 | 18.3% |
| 06 | No valid pay-and-display ticket or voucher clearly displayed | 13,995 | 14.2% |
| 01 | Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours | 7,668 | 7.8% |
| 99 | Stopped on pedestrian crossing zigzag markings | 3,941 | 4.0% |
| 40 | Disabled person’s parking place without a valid badge displayed correctly | 2,965 | 3.0% |
Code 02 was the largest family by a wide margin, accounting for 38,285 PCNs, or 38.9% of the supplied total. Code 46 added a further 17,996 tickets, while code 06 accounted for 13,995.
The suffixes attached to some codes provide additional context – for example enforcement method or the type of restriction – but do not change the main code-family grouping used in this summary.
Four in five PCNs were in higher-level code families
Birmingham City Council’s response stated that lower-level contraventions carried a standard full charge of £50, while higher-level contraventions carried a standard full charge of £70.
Across the supplied breakdown, 78,879 PCNs fell within higher-level code families and 19,608 fell within lower-level code families. One record used the unclassified code “WO2” and was excluded from the value calculation.
Multiplying the code-level counts by the applicable standard full charge produces an estimated potential value of £6,501,930 across the three annual hotspot lists.
Why £6.5 million is not council revenue
Birmingham City Council did not provide a total face-value or revenue column in the attached spreadsheets. The £6.5 million figure was calculated by ParkAppeal from the contravention-code counts and the £50/£70 standard charge levels stated in the council’s response.
It does not show how much money the council received. Many PCNs may have been paid at a discounted rate, cancelled, successfully challenged, left unpaid or progressed to a different enforcement stage.
Top Birmingham parking ticket locations by year
The tables below show Birmingham City Council’s top 10 on-street parking PCN locations for each financial year. ParkAppeal calculated the estimated full-value charges from the code-level £50 and £70 rates supplied with the response.
2023/24
| Street or location | PCNs issued | Estimated full-value charges* |
|---|---|---|
| Alum Rock Road | 5,993 | £419,270 |
| Stratford Road Sparkhill | 2,794 | £194,420 |
| Corporation Street City Centre | 2,104 | £115,500 |
| Commercial Street City Centre | 1,761 | £117,050 |
| Newhall Street City Centre | 1,716 | £91,380 |
| Coventry Road Small Heath | 1,694 | £111,790 |
| Washwood Heath Road Washwood Heath | 1,577 | £110,390 |
| Tennant Street City Centre | 1,564 | £92,340 |
| Sheepcote Street City Centre | 1,529 | £91,070 |
| Edmund Street City Centre | 1,518 | £89,760 |
2024/25
| Street or location | PCNs issued | Estimated full-value charges* |
|---|---|---|
| Alum Rock Road | 9,544 | £667,520 |
| Stratford Road Sparkhill | 7,062 | £478,740 |
| Lionel Street (Jewellery Quarter) | 2,696 | £151,640 |
| Gas Street, City Centre | 2,433 | £157,490 |
| Coventry Road Small Heath | 2,299 | £154,430 |
| Washwood Heath Road Washwood Heath | 2,272 | £158,620 |
| Sheepcote Street City Centre | 2,196 | £137,780 |
| Corporation Street City Centre | 2,180 | £117,320 |
| Cornwall Street City Centre | 2,062 | £130,860 |
| Newhall Street City Centre | 2,040 | £109,260 |
2025/26
| Street or location | PCNs issued | Estimated full-value charges* |
|---|---|---|
| Alum Rock Road | 11,484 | £803,480 |
| Stratford Road Sparkhill | 8,089 | £561,530 |
| Gas Street, City Centre | 3,658 | £246,940 |
| Washwood Heath Road Washwood Heath | 3,428 | £239,540 |
| Stratford Road Sparkbrook | 2,929 | £204,210 |
| Cornwall Street City Centre | 2,707 | £165,830 |
| Moat Lane City Centre | 2,517 | £176,190 |
| Lionel Street (Jewellery Quarter) | 2,255 | £127,030 |
| Granville Street City Centre | 2,216 | £140,480 |
| Berkley Street City Centre | 2,171 | £140,070 |
*Estimated full-value charges are ParkAppeal calculations based on the standard £50 lower-level and £70 higher-level rates stated by Birmingham City Council. One 2023/24 Coventry Road record with the unclassified code “WO2” was excluded from the value estimate. Figures are not actual council revenue.
Drivers should carefully check a PCN before paying
A high volume of PCNs at one location does not mean the tickets were issued incorrectly. Busy roads, loading restrictions, red routes, pay-and-display bays, pedestrian crossings and enforcement levels can all affect how many notices are issued.
However, a driver who receives a PCN should check the contravention code, the stated location, the date and time, the signs and road markings, and any payment, permit, loading or exemption evidence before deciding what to do.
If the details are wrong, the restriction was not clearly signed, evidence supports an exemption, or the council did not follow the correct process, there may be grounds to challenge the notice.
Comment from ParkAppeal
A ParkAppeal spokesperson said: “The scale of the increase across Birmingham’s busiest locations is striking. The annual top-10 total rose from 22,250 PCNs to 41,454 in only two years, while Alum Rock Road alone reached more than 11,000 tickets in the latest year.
“The data also shows that different roads have very different enforcement patterns. Alum Rock Road was dominated by waiting and loading restrictions, while Stratford Road in Sparkhill was largely linked to stopping restrictions on a red route or clearway.
“For drivers, the important point is to read the notice carefully rather than assuming every parking ticket is the same. The contravention code, signs, road markings and any payment or exemption evidence can all matter when deciding whether there are grounds to challenge.”
For journalists and media enquiries
This report can be referenced as a ParkAppeal Freedom of Information analysis of Birmingham City Council’s top on-street parking PCN locations.
- FOI authority: Birmingham City Council
- FOI reference: 85816397
- Scope: council-issued on-street parking PCNs at the annual top-10 locations only
- Financial years: 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26
- Main finding: 98,488 PCNs across the three annual top-10 lists
- Key hotspot: Alum Rock Road ranked first every year, with 27,021 PCNs across the period
- Latest-year finding: Alum Rock Road recorded 11,484 PCNs in 2025/26, approximately 31.5 per day
- Value note: approximately £6.5 million at standard full rates, calculated by ParkAppeal; this is not council revenue
For comment or media enquiries, please contact ParkAppeal through the ParkAppeal contact page.
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ParkAppeal is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Our software generates appeal letters for drivers to review and submit themselves. ParkAppeal is independent and is not affiliated with Birmingham City Council or any parking operator.
Whether a parking appeal is accepted depends on the facts, evidence, the relevant authority or operator, and the process used. The figures in this article are based on Birmingham City Council’s Freedom of Information response. Estimated values are calculated at standard full charge levels and should not be treated as final income received by the council.