There are frustratingly dozens of other contenders but we may have just found the worst example of bad parking in all of Birmingham. A shocking photo, shared by a reader of BirminghamLive, appears to show a van carelessly parked across a pavement in Edmund Road, Alum Rock.
The passer-by who took the picture said many other pedestrians "have to go on the road" while "people with pushchairs cannot pass". Ironically, a sign reading "NO PARKING" can be seen just a few feet away from the van in the background of the photo.
Sadly, it's by far not the only case of terrible parking in the city suburb of Alum Rock. Figures released by Birmingham City Council following a freedom of information request by BirminghamLive showed a whopping 2,772 drivers were fined in nearby Alum Rock Road since last year, making the busy stretch the worst hotspot in Birmingham to be punished for parking violations.
Our reporter recently visited the road to see if parking is as hellish as the numbers make out and surprisingly, it was a mixed reaction. Some argued they have no intention of breaking the rules and just need to park for a few seconds, and therefore find being ticketed unfair. Others insisted wardens are too eager to ticket, while some believe the situation is not that bad.
Zardad Afghan 26, at Baba Shop said: "It is busy, all the time there is no parking. In a week you will see two or three accidents and a lot of people may not have licences or insurance.
"They cross the red lights and police take long to come. A couple of months ago I saw seven tickets on one car but they (drivers) don't care."
Parking woes have also affected transport rights campaigner Doug Paulley, who recently shared his struggle trying to navigate cars parked on the pavement leaving just inches of space for disabled people to get past. A video shows the footway obstructed by drivers as wheelchair user Doug tries his best to get through.
Both cars leave just a tiny amount of space. He said: "It is incredibly frustrating the footway is obstructed by drivers. Pavements are for people not for cars.
"Did I scratch any cars? I don't think so. At worse [I] scuffed one. I didn't intend to scratch cars but if this happened whilst I was trying to get through that is unfortunate but the driver's fault."
