Parking fine hotspots revealed!

2 minute read  |  June 27, 2017

Research conducted by car leasing specialist, UK Carline, into Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued by 17 councils across the country between January 2014 and March 2017, found that Brent, Croydon and Bristol have the most trigger-happy enforcement officers with over one million tickets being issued over three years.

State of Decay

Perhaps the most shocking statistic from the research is that over 2.7 million PCNs were issued over the three-year period, with 941,888 in 2016 alone. During the three years, October 2016 was the most popular month for enforcement officers who issued 86,427 tickets – perhaps they were having a mini-competition amongst themselves about who could put the most people in debt.

If the maximum fine of £100 per offence was handed out, that would have been a combined cost of £275,290,000 per year for drivers.

Top 10 councils with the highest number of fines 

Council	Number of fines in three years
Brent	537,128
Croydon	339,121
Bristol	267,913
Ealing	236,733
Newcastle	221,659
Enfield	189,619
Sheffield	155,552
Leicester	147,358
Bradford	141,692
Plymouth	121,429

Today’s the day

While you may enjoy a trip to the shops come the weekend, it’s worth noting that Saturdays are the most popular day for issuing fines with 430,035 fines being issued, compared to the weekday average of 417,456.

Sundays are the day you’re least likely to be fined, with only 235,584 tickets issued throughout the three-year period. This figure suggests Sunday drivers are the best behaved, or enforcement officers are less likely to be doing the rounds, personally, I’d suggest the latter.

Legally avoid paying a parking fine

So there you have it. While many parking fines will be justified, there can and always will be exceptions. If you have received a parking fine which you think may be unwarranted, check out our guide on how you could legally avoid paying a parking fine.

Back to resources