Worst streets for driving PCNs in Britain revealed

Browning Road in Newham, London, has been branded the worst street in Britain for motoring penalty charge notices, new figures have revealed. 

Over 67,000 PCNs were doled out from driving infringements last year, totalling over £3million, experts at Confused.com said.

Outside of London, Manchester’s Stockport Road was the worst street for catching drivers, with more than 5,000 parking penalty fines issued in 2021.

These are the five streets that have issued the most Penalty Charge Notices to motorists in the last year, according to a new report

PCN overload: Browning Road in Newham, London, has been branded the worst street in Britain for motoring penalty charge notices with £3.3m worth issued to drivers in 2021, Confused.com said

PCN overload: Browning Road in Newham, London, has been branded the worst street in Britain for motoring penalty charge notices with £3.3m worth issued to drivers in 2021, Confused.com said

Back in London, Dermody Road in Lewisham saw the second highest number of PCNs dished out in the capital last year. 

Over 45,000 were handed out to motorists on this street alone, with the total combined charge coming in at £2,956,171, Confused.com said.

Most drivers issued with PCNs on Browning Road are likely related to a traffic-reduction scheme launched in 2019 to cut the number of vehicles using the residential street as a rat runs away from congested main roads.

The enforced area towards the Browning Road Bridge only allows access to emergency response vehicles, buses, cyclists, black cabs and cars belonging to local residents.

Anyone else snapped by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras on the street are brandished with an PCN. 

It is a similar story for others in the list. 

Both Dermody Road in Lewisham and Lansdowne Drive, Hackney – second and third overall respectively for most PCNs – both sit within a Low Traffic Neighbourhood ahead, which bans the use of most vehicles.

Looking outside of London again, Copy Nook in Blackburn saw a hefty number of PCNs handed out last year. There were 1,773 PCNs slapped on motorists, totalling £94,856 for the year.

These are the five streets outside of London where the most PCNs were brandished to drivers in 2021

These are the five streets outside of London where the most PCNs were brandished to drivers in 2021

In total, £19.5 million was collected by councils for alleged offences committed on the top 103 streets over the 12 month period.

Drivers can be issued a PCN for a number of reasons, including wrongfully driving within an LTN.

How to appeal a PCN

There are a number of steps motorists can take if they are slapped with a PCN while out on the roads. 

First, write to the council in question clearly explaining why you object to the PCN. This is called making an informal appeal. Think about whether the PCN truly was unfair or not and whether it is worth appealing. 

You will have 14 days to make an informal appeal from when you were given the notice, or 21 days if it was sent to you by post. 

Within your appeal, include as much evidence as possible to show why your PCN should be axed. 

This could include things like a valid pay and display ticket, photographs of obscured relevant signs, a letter from a witness who saw what happened or a repair note if your vehicle had broken down at the time in question. Send copies of documents rather than originals if you can.

Make sure you include the date the ticket was issued, your address, the vehicle registration number and the penalty notice number in your appeal. If you are appealing by post, always send your appeal by recorded delivery and get proof it arrived at the correct address.

Alternatively, you may wish to make a formal appeal or take the matter to tribunal. But, hopefully, the matter can be resolved beforehand. 

Whatever approach you take, be careful how you handle the situation if you get a PCN. If you simply refuse to pay the PCN, you could get a demanding payment and bailiffs could be sent to get what’s owed. You might have to pay 50 per cent more than the original fine.

Other offences include illegal parking, straying into bus lanes or blocking a yellow box junction. 

According to the findings, which emerged following Freedom of Information requests made to councils, over 40 per cent of drivers think PCNs are too expensive.

More than a third, or 34 per cent, believe the charges should be reduced amid the cost of living crisis.

Alex Kindred, a car insurance expert at Confused.com, said: ‘Just like many of our motoring bills, the cost of penalty charge notices is an extra strain on the pockets of drivers.

‘A third (33 per cent) of drivers believe that councils should spend more money on making road signs clearer, so that drivers don’t have to fork out for unfair fines in the first place. In turn, this would make roads safer, drivers less confused, and help to reduce the cost of driving.

‘Our research found that more than half (52 per cent) of motorists who received a PCN for a parking offence have appealed it. But only a small number of drivers (6 per cent) feel that their local council has an easy process to appeal a PCN fine.

‘If you’ve received a PCN fine, you might be able to challenge the decision if you think it was unfair. The process may vary depending on your local authority, so it’s important to check this before doing so. If you wish to challenge your fine, you should do so within 28 days.’

Thirty-four per cent cited a parking offence as the reason they received a PCN, followed by driving in a bus lane (14 per cent) and stopping in a box junction (8 per cent), Confused.com said.

Over two in five motorists claimed there was not enough parking in their local city centre. 

Confused.com, said: ‘This has meant that two in five (41 per cent) of those who have received a parking fine received their ticket in a city centre. And almost one in three (31 per cent) drivers also said that there aren’t enough parking spaces available on their local high street.’

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