New FOI data ranks parking fine hotspots in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield during the 2025/26 financial year.
More than 11,000 on-street parking Penalty Charge Notices were issued on Alum Rock Road in Birmingham in just one year, making it the most-ticketed location disclosed across England’s four largest city council areas.
Birmingham City Council issued 11,484 PCNs on the road between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. When averaged across all 365 days, that is approximately 31.5 notices a day – equivalent to one roughly every 46 minutes.
New Freedom of Information data obtained by ParkAppeal ranks the 10 leading council-enforced on-street parking locations in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. Across the 40 entries, councils issued a combined 107,545 PCNs during 2025/26 – approximately 295 a day.
Published: 27 July 2026
Key findings at a glance
- Combined ranking leader: Alum Rock Road, Birmingham – 11,484 PCNs in 2025/26
- Frequency: approximately 31.5 PCNs a day, equivalent to one every 46 minutes when averaged across the year
- Four-city ranking: 107,545 PCNs across the 40 annual top-10 entries
- Highest outside Birmingham: St John Street, Manchester – 5,501 PCNs
- City leaders: Alum Rock Road, St John Street, George Street and Ecclesall Road
Local angles for regional journalists
Reporting on one of the four council areas? The leading local findings and complete city breakdowns are below.
Birmingham
Alum Rock Road recorded 11,484 PCNs – approximately 31.5 a day – with an estimated full face value of £803,480.
View the full Birmingham breakdownLeeds
George Street topped the Leeds ranking with 4,234 PCNs and an estimated full face value of £294,800.
View the full Leeds breakdownManchester
St John Street led Manchester with 5,501 PCNs carrying a council-supplied full face value of £280,309.
View the full Manchester breakdownSheffield
Ecclesall Road recorded 2,469 PCNs – approximately 6.8 every day – during the 2025/26 financial year.
View the full Sheffield breakdownParkAppeal comment
Lewis, founder of ParkAppeal, said: “Alum Rock Road is the clear outlier, averaging one PCN every 46 minutes. Its 11,484 notices were more than double the total at the leading location in Manchester, Leeds or Sheffield. Across the 40 annual top-10 entries, the four councils issued 107,545 notices.
“These figures do not tell us why one road produces more notices, or how many were later paid, cancelled or successfully challenged. What they do show is how heavily parking enforcement can become concentrated on a relatively small number of streets. Where enforcement is this frequent, restrictions need to be clear and easy for drivers to understand.”
Press information
Journalists may reproduce the figures in this investigation with credit to ParkAppeal and a link to this report.
- Credit: ParkAppeal analysis of council information responses
- Coverage period: 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
- Primary headline figure: 11,484 PCNs on Alum Rock Road, Birmingham
- Combined figure: 107,545 PCNs across the 40 annual top-10 entries
- Copy note: describe money figures as full or estimated face value, not council revenue
- Media enquiries: use the ParkAppeal contact page
The most-ticketed streets across the four council areas: key findings
Face value is not council revenue
The money figures in this report show the full face value of the PCNs, not the amount councils received. Birmingham and Leeds values were estimated by applying the standard full penalty levels to the contravention counts supplied; Manchester supplied face-value figures directly.
Sheffield did not supply total face values, so its entries are marked “Not supplied” and are excluded from the £5.75 million figure. PCNs may be paid at a discount, challenged, cancelled, remain unpaid or progress through later enforcement stages.
Alum Rock Road averaged one parking PCN roughly every 46 minutes
Alum Rock Road finished 3,395 PCNs ahead of second-placed Stratford Road Sparkhill, which recorded 8,089 notices. The two Birmingham locations alone accounted for 19,573 PCNs – more than 18% of every PCN in the combined 40-location ranking.
St John Street in Manchester was the highest-ranked location outside Birmingham with 5,501 PCNs. George Street led Leeds with 4,234, while Ecclesall Road topped Sheffield’s list with 2,469.
Headline finding: Birmingham City Council issued 11,484 parking PCNs on Alum Rock Road in 2025/26 – an average of more than 31 a day, or one roughly every 46 minutes. The notices carried an estimated full face value of £803,480 before discounts, challenges, cancellations or payment outcomes.
The number-one parking ticket hotspot in each council area
| Combined rank | Street or location | Council | PCNs issued | Known/estimated full face value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alum Rock Road | Birmingham | 11,484 | £803,480 |
| 3 | St John Street | Manchester | 5,501 | £280,309 |
| 4 | George Street | Leeds | 4,234 | £294,800 |
| 19 | Ecclesall Road | Sheffield | 2,469 | Not supplied |
Full ranking: all 40 entries from the councils’ top-10 lists
The table below combines the 10 highest-count on-street locations returned by each council for the 2025/26 financial year. It ranks the 40 returned entries by PCN count; it should not be interpreted as the definitive overall top 40 across the four council areas.
| Rank | Street or location | Council | PCNs issued | Known/estimated full face value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alum Rock Road | Birmingham | 11,484 | £803,480 |
| 2 | Stratford Road Sparkhill | Birmingham | 8,089 | £561,530 |
| 3 | St John Street | Manchester | 5,501 | £280,309 |
| 4 | George Street | Leeds | 4,234 | £294,800 |
| 5 | Oxney Road | Manchester | 4,089 | £188,515 |
| 6 | Heald Grove (Moss Side) | Manchester | 3,795 | £168,284 |
| 7 | Grandale Street | Manchester | 3,746 | £186,055 |
| 8 | Gas Street, City Centre | Birmingham | 3,658 | £246,940 |
| 9 | Banff Road | Manchester | 3,488 | £172,287 |
| 10 | Washwood Heath Road Washwood Heath | Birmingham | 3,428 | £239,540 |
| 11 | Hibbert Street | Manchester | 3,396 | £176,396 |
| 12 | Stratford Road Sparkbrook | Birmingham | 2,929 | £204,210 |
| 13 | Cornwall Street City Centre | Birmingham | 2,707 | £165,830 |
| 14 | Higher Ardwick | Manchester | 2,624 | £137,007 |
| 15 | Hythe Close | Manchester | 2,595 | £122,404 |
| 16 | South Parade | Leeds | 2,539 | £149,370 |
| 17 | Park Crescent | Manchester | 2,525 | £133,104 |
| 18 | Moat Lane City Centre | Birmingham | 2,517 | £176,190 |
| 19 | Ecclesall Road | Sheffield | 2,469 | Not supplied |
| 20 | Viscount Street | Manchester | 2,446 | £110,226 |
| 21 | Great George Street | Leeds | 2,288 | £133,660 |
| 22 | St Pauls Street | Leeds | 2,259 | £114,430 |
| 23 | Lionel Street (Jewellery Quarter) | Birmingham | 2,255 | £127,030 |
| 24 | Granville Street City Centre | Birmingham | 2,216 | £140,480 |
| 25 | Berkley Street City Centre | Birmingham | 2,171 | £140,070 |
| 26 | Park Place | Leeds | 1,999 | £101,070 |
| 27 | Russell Street | Leeds | 1,868 | £130,760 |
| 28 | London Road | Sheffield | 1,757 | Not supplied |
| 29 | Calverley Street | Leeds | 1,391 | £89,610 |
| 30 | Clarendon Road | Leeds | 1,349 | £91,570 |
| 31 | Chadwick Street | Leeds | 1,346 | £91,980 |
| 32 | Thoresby Place | Leeds | 1,322 | £70,280 |
| 33 | Abbeydale Road | Sheffield | 1,272 | Not supplied |
| 34 | Surrey Street | Sheffield | 1,067 | Not supplied |
| 35 | Arundel Street | Sheffield | 1,004 | Not supplied |
| 36 | Norfolk Street | Sheffield | 885 | Not supplied |
| 37 | Rockingham Gate | Sheffield | 773 | Not supplied |
| 38 | Union Street | Sheffield | 690 | Not supplied |
| 39 | Charles Street | Sheffield | 688 | Not supplied |
| 40 | Mushroom Lane | Sheffield | 686 | Not supplied |
Ranking uses the number of council-issued on-street parking PCNs. Birmingham and Leeds values are ParkAppeal estimates at standard full penalty rates; Manchester supplied face values; Sheffield did not supply face values.
Birmingham accounted for almost four in 10 PCNs in the ranking
Birmingham’s 10 locations produced the highest combined count, with 41,454 PCNs. Manchester followed with 34,205, Leeds with 20,595 and Sheffield with 11,291.
| Council | PCNs across top 10 | Share of combined total | Known/estimated face value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 41,454 | 38.5% | £2,805,300 |
| Manchester | 34,205 | 31.8% | £1,674,587 |
| Leeds | 20,595 | 19.1% | £1,267,530 |
| Sheffield | 11,291 | 10.5% | Not supplied |
| Total | 107,545 | 100% | £5,747,417* |
*The value total covers Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester only. Percentages may not sum to exactly 100 because of rounding.
What the figures show – and what they do not
These results compare the 10 highest-count locations returned by each council. They are not citywide PCN totals, and the ranking does not measure the length of each street, traffic volume, parking capacity, enforcement hours or the number of separate restriction types.
A high count may reflect a busy road, frequent patrols, complex restrictions, high vehicle turnover or a combination of factors. The data shows where PCNs were issued; it does not establish why one location produced more notices than another.
How ParkAppeal compiled the ranking
FOI scope and reporting period
ParkAppeal sent the same information request to Birmingham City Council, Leeds City Council, Manchester City Council and Sheffield City Council. This comparison uses only the latest requested period: 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
The request covered council-issued or council-enforced on-street parking PCNs. It excluded off-street council car parks, bus lanes, moving traffic penalties, Clean Air Zone charges, littering penalties and private parking charges.
The four councils were selected using the latest Office for National Statistics local authority population estimates available when the analysis was compiled. “City council area” refers to the relevant local authority boundary, not the wider continuous urban area or ceremonial county.
Ranking and calculations
The 40 locations were ranked solely by the number of PCNs issued. Combined totals add the 10 locations supplied by each council and should not be interpreted as total enforcement across each council area. Daily averages use 365 days. Alum Rock Road’s average is rounded to one decimal place, while the combined four-council average is rounded to the nearest whole number. Leeds locality suffixes such as “Central”, “Hunslet” and “Woodhouse” have been shortened in the display names for readability.
How the face values were handled
Birmingham and Leeds face values were estimated by applying the standard full penalty amount for each supplied contravention to the corresponding PCN count. Manchester supplied total face values, which are reproduced exactly as supplied by the council and were not recalculated by ParkAppeal. Sheffield did not supply face-value totals, so no amount has been estimated for its locations in this combined report.
Face value is not revenue. It is the value before early-payment discounts, successful representations or appeals, cancellations, non-payment and later enforcement outcomes.
Source references
- Birmingham City Council FOI reference: 85816397
- Leeds City Council information request reference: EIR-001438
- Manchester City Council FOI reference: FOI20460
- Sheffield City Council information request reference: 3057154
Received a parking ticket?
Check your notice, the evidence and the relevant rules before deciding what to do next.
Visit ParkAppealImportant information
Figures are based on information supplied by the councils in response to Freedom of Information requests. PCNs issued do not necessarily represent fines that were paid, upheld or ultimately enforced.