Road raked in £4m of parking fines in one year

A NIGHTMARE Birmingham road has been shamed as one of the country’s worst parking ticket blackspots, with wardens raking in £4 million in fines in one year.

Alum Rock Road was named the second most ticketed road outside London.

In total, Birmingham City Council issued 112,735 tickets from August 2019 to July 2020, generating over £3,951,000 in revenue.

Newham in London was the biggest earner in the UK, generating £10.6 million, while the biggest parking revenue outside the capital was racked up in Wellington Street, Glasgow, at £5.4 million, with the Alum Rock Road next.

An Alum Rock Community Forum spokesman said: “We need more provision for car parking. It’s a busy high street. There has been no real investment for access and people with special needs to park.

“It’s more of a family experience. People do not go for a couple of minutes but for a couple of hours because there’s an array of shops. It’s a proper retail experience. I would advise people to check the signs when they are parking. It’s also worth parking away and walking five or ten minutes.”

A council spokesman said: “Alum Rock Road is a busy road with clear parking restrictions in place.

“Regular enforcement takes place on this road to encourage motorists to comply with parking restrictions and to try and change parking behaviour at this location. If anyone feels they have been issued with a parking ticket unfairly then they are, of course, entitled to appeal against it.”

David Renard, of the Local Government Association, said: “Councils have to try to ensure there are spaces available for everyone. With an increase of ten million cars on the road in the last 20 years this has become increasingly challenging for councils.

“Income raised through on-street parking charges and parking fines is spent on running parking services.

“Any surplus is spent on essential transport projects, including fixing potholes and tackling congestion.”