Durham's hotspots for vehicle penalty charge notices

Whether it’s for a bus lane infraction, overstaying their welcome in a car park or parking on a double yellow, Durham’s drivers have been caught out 84 times a day on average. 

Freedom of Information request data highlights some of the worst Durham City streets to be caught on. 

Here's a breakdown of the areas that saw the most driving and parking offences between March 9 2022 and March 8 2023:

County Durham's eight hotspots for vehicle FPNs (Image: The Northern Echo)

North Road Bus Gate 

4932 tickets issued, on average 13 a day. 

North Road, near Durham railway station, is by far the worst location for motorists to be caught out. Running adjacent to Wharton Park, North Road is home to the Garden House pub and offers access to St Cuthbert’s Church.

It seems motorists are still unaccustomed to the bus gate, which was introduced in 2017 – a massive 4932 tickets (16% of all tickets issued!) were issued there between March 2022 and March 2023.

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Front Street Bus Gate

1040 tickets issued, on average 2.8 a day. 

Framwellgate Moor’s Front Street, located north of Durham City Centre, comes in at number two on this list, totalling 3.3% of tickets issues last year. Home to a number of independent and chain businesses, Front Street’s bus gate was fitted with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at the start of 2022. 

Though drivers were informed of this change via letter in December 2021, it doesn’t seem to have helped – 1040 tickets were issued for drivers who passed through the bus gate.

Old Elvet

997 tickets issued, on average 2.7 a day. 

The worst street for Durham drivers – in terms of on-street parking, at least – is Old Elvet, the street linking Whinney Hill and New Elvet, just east of the city centre. Drivers racked up 3.2% of all fines on this short stretch of road last year. 

Old Elvet is home to Hotel Indigo, and has the Half Moon Inn at one end. There’re plenty of parking spaces here, however, so it seems that drivers must be caught out missing their ticket window. 997 tickets were issued here.

Howlands Park and Ride

581 tickets issued, on average, on average 1.6 per day. 

Located by the Josephine Butler and Stephenson Colleges of Durham University, Howlands Park and Ride offers a great alternative for people looking to get into town. However, it’s also a hotspot for parking tickets, with 581 issued here, coming to 1.9% of all tickets. 

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Claypath

566 tickets issued, on average 1.5 per day. 

Claypath, the city centre street leading east from the town centre to Gilesgate, is another hotspot for parking tickets. It’s home to a number of independent businesses, many of which have Loading Only bays outside. It’s easy to see how drivers could be caught out here, with 566 tickets issued on this street between March 2022 and March 2023, making it a ticketing blackspot with 1.8% of tickets issued here. 

Dave Lewin, Durham County Council’s strategic traffic manager, said: “We have a firm but fair approach to all parking and traffic enforcement and there’s a clear and well-established appeals process for anyone who wishes to challenge a Penalty Charge Notice. This includes the option of referring the case to an independent adjudicator.

“The bus gates are on some of our busiest routes and are there to make it easier for public transport to run as reliably and punctually as possible. They are clearly marked and signed and the overwhelming majority of drivers manage to avoid using or obstructing them.

“We also carry out targeted enforcement to tackle the most serious parking offences, such as those that put people’s safety at risk or where bays designated for residents, businesses and people with disabilities are being misused, as these offences have more impact on people’s lives.

“Any surplus money raised from fines is put back into maintaining transport infrastructure across the county, including subsidising bus services or funding schemes for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.”