A list of the UK places where motorists are most likely to get handed a parking fine has been released… and it’s grim reading for Mancs.
That’s because our city has, unfortunately, claimed the top spot.
In recent months, Manchester has found itself either at the top of, or ranking amongst, a couple of not-so-desirable lists, including being home to the ‘nosiest’ neighbours, the city with the lowest rate of fixed reported potholes, and, probably the worst of them all, one of the UK’s ‘chlamydia capitals’.
And now it seems we’ve done it again – but this time around, it’s drivers who need to take note and keep an eye on where they leave their vehicles.
Manchester’s less-than-ideal new title as the UK’s number one parking fine hotspot comes after injury lawyer experts at Claims.co.uk recently carried out a study where they analysed Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) data from 2020 to 2021 in a bid to find out which towns, cities, and regions have been the hardest hit by motoring fines.
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Manchester motorists are the most likely to get a parking fine in the UK / Credit: PublicDomainPictures | IPTC (Ronald Hudson)
On top of this, they also looked at which UK areas residents have been the most successful at appealing these notices.
As mentioned, Manchester came in at number one on the top 10 list, with an eye-watering rate of 99,348 PCNs issued per 100,000 people – which is a whopping 901.33% higher than the national average of 9,922 notices per 100,000 people.
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Manchester saw the most penalty charge notices issued of any area in the UK, with 546,270 fines issued overall, and considering that the population of the area that the City of Manchester covers is only 549,853, that’s almost one penalty charge notice for every person.
Of those 546,270 fines, only 660 were appealed, and just 478 were successfully overturned following those appeals.
Brighton and Hove, Reading, Cambridgeshire, and Nottingham round out the top five.
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The top 10 parking fine hotspots in the UK
Manchester
Brighton & Hove
Reading
Cambridgeshire
Nottingham
Bristol
Cardiff
Slough
Portsmouth
Derby
The city has been named the UK’s top PCN hotspot / Credit: Ocean Outdoor
Elsewhere on the list, Bristol has secured sixth place, with the Welsh capital of Cardiff trailing not so far behind, followed by Slough and Portsmouth, and the midlands city region of Derby rounding out the top 10 rankings.
Across each area of the UK, the average number of PCNs issued over the period worked out to be 26,512 – which is a total of 9,922 per 100,000 people.
On the other end of the spectrum, Hyndburn in Lancashire was revealed as the UK area that’s the least likely to be hit with a PCN, seeing only a minuscule 46 fines issued between 2020 and 2021, which works out to a rate of just 56 fines per 100,000 people.
A Greater Manchester Wetherspoons has been revealed as ‘one of the UK’s most beloved pubs’
Danny Jones
Whatever you make of them, Wetherspoons remains the biggest pub chain in the UK and millions of Brits drink in them every week; in fact, as it turns out, one of their Greater Manchester locations has just been revealed as ‘one of the most beloved pubs’ in the country.
The J D Wetherspoon name is one you’ll typically see at least once if not more in most towns and cities and given that they boast more than 800 across the UK and Ireland, their dominance of the UK drinking scene remains pretty steadfast.
Although many have railed against the massive franchise over the past few years, with thousands famously flocking to use the ‘Neverspoons’ app within just a week of its launch back in 2020, an estimated 20.5 million visit every six months.
The point being, ‘Where is the nearest Spoons?’ is a very common query online and punters still regularly search for them on Google Maps – quite literally, as it happens, as the latest data from the tech giants has revealed just how popular one particular Manchester location is. Drum roll, please…
Marking 20 years of Google Maps’, those behind the website and app pooled together their stats on the best-loved pubs nationwide and, yes, Manchester’s very own Moon Under The Water managed to make the top 20.
The busy Deansgate boozer, famous for rowdy weekends and being one of if not the only Wetherspoons we know of that includes a built-in dancefloor (perhaps the only one full stop) is certainly a memorable watering hole – provided you don’t drink so much you struggle to recollect much of anything.
Whilst we’re on the subject of Wetherspoons, they actually take up half of the list with various venues up and down the country, including four of the top five.
Other names that made the cut were Waxy O’Connor’s London, which once had a space in Manchester’s Printworks; England’s so-called oldest pub, the Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham, as well as few other storied London public houses.
For context, this list was compiled strictly by using data directly from the search engine. The top spots are based on places that have the most reviews and a rating over 4.0 stars on Google Maps and those locations were then calculated by the number of reviews and average review rating taken into account.
The main bar areaThe view from above looking down onto the dancefloorIt is the biggest and one of the most frequented Wetherspoons in all of Greater Manchester. (Credit: The Manc Group)
We’ll admit, of all the brilliant Manchester pubs and bars we know and love, we were quite expecting to see a simple Spoons beating them all out on the list.
Meanwhile, as part of the wider 20th-anniversary round-ups, Google also shared the likes of ‘best’/most-searched restaurants in the country, as well as some of the most popular Italian spots.
The only nod Greater Manchester received was among dining spots, with Turtle Bay’s Northern Quarter venue coming in at number 10.
So, what do you reckon then: are you a fan of Spoons and, more specifically, The Moon Under Water, or do you only support independent pubs and bars?
Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard prices giving shoppers even cheaper offers
Emily Sergeant
Tesco has started trialling personalised Clubcard offers which give customers tailored prices based on their purchases.
The supermarket‘s Clubcard loyalty scheme has more than 20 million people signed-up nationwide, making it one of the most popular of its kind on the market, by far – but over the coming weeks, prices could begin to get cheaper for some than they already are as part of the new ‘Your Clubcard Prices’ scheme being trialled.
The scheme, which is being launched nationwide to a select group of people, will see shoppers sent new personalised offers every Wednesday, on top of all other existing deals.
These will be sent via the Tesco Clubcard app, and added automatically at the checkout.
Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard prices giving shoppers even cheaper offers / Credit: The Manc Group
At this moment in time, it’s believed to be unclear how many people are a part of the trial, and also how long the trial will last for.
What we do know, however, is that customers will be able to use their personalised offers multiple times for a total of seven days in larger Tesco stores, but at present, they unfortunately can’t be used in Express locations.
“We are constantly looking for ways to make Clubcard work harder for our customers,” a Tesco spokesperson explained.
“We are currently offering Your Clubcard Prices to a trial group of our Clubcard members, giving them offers on products they regularly buy at Tesco, in addition to the thousands of Clubcard Prices available to all Clubcard members each week.”
The news that Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard offers comes after the retailer was advised by leading consumer watchdog, Which?, last February to make prices clearer for customers.
Emily Sergeant -
12th February 2024 
