Council Fine CheckWhat Manchester enforces
- Parking
- Enforces
- Bus lanes / gates
- Enforces — bus lanes and six city-centre bus gates, camera enforced
- Moving traffic
- Enforces since 2023-11-20 — ANPR cameras for banned turns, yellow boxes and one-way streets, rolled out in tranches
- Penalty level
- Band 2: £70 higher level, £50 lower level; £105 or £75 after a Charge Certificate. Bus lane and bus gate PCNs £70, or £35 within 21 days
- Appeals
- Traffic Penalty Tribunal (free)
About Manchester PCNs
Manchester enforces parking, bus lanes, bus gates and, since November 2023, moving traffic contraventions. The city-centre bus gates are the ones that catch most visitors: Oxford Road (6am to 9pm every day, in sections that only apply in one direction), and Portland Street, King Street, Deansgate, Bridge Street and Princess Street, which apply 24 hours a day. Only buses, black cabs (not private hire) and cycles may use them, and Princess Street also allows trams. The council warns that bus gates may not show on every sat nav, so the road signs are what count. A bus gate or bus lane PCN is £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days.
Moving traffic enforcement started with tranche 1 at Stockport Road (from 20 November 2023), followed by Great Ancoats Street, Cheetham Hill Road, Kirkmanshulme Lane, Ashton Old Road, Palatine Road and M56 junction 6 during 2024, and a second tranche of city-centre yellow boxes on Deansgate, Quay Street and Regent Road plus two one-way streets from 19 January 2026. Each camera page shows its start date.
For a parking ticket, Manchester accepts an informal appeal online; if it arrives within 14 days and is rejected, you get 14 days from the reply to pay the reduced charge. A Notice to Owner follows after 28 days, then formal representations and, if rejected, a free appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The council never asks for PCN payment by text.
How to challenge a Manchester PCN
- Check the deadline. A camera PCN sent by post gets a 50% discount if paid within 21 days; representations are normally due within 28 days of the notice being served.
- Make representations to the council as explained on its PCN page or by post to Parking Services, PO Box 532, Manchester M60 3NZ. Quote the PCN number and the grounds that apply.
- If rejected, appeal to Traffic Penalty Tribunal within 28 days of the Notice of Rejection. The adjudicator is independent of Manchester.
Known camera locations
- Ashton Old Road / Chancellor Street and Fairfield Street box junction
- Ashton Old Road / Chancellor Street banned turn right
- Bridge Street bus gate (Left Bank to Albert Bridge, westbound)
- Cheetham Hill Road / Elizabeth Street banned turn
- Deansgate / Blackfriars Street and St Marys Gate box junction
- Deansgate / Bridge Street and John Dalton Street box junction
- Deansgate / Great Bridgewater Street and Liverpool Road box junction
- Deansgate / Peter Street box junction
- Deansgate bus gate (Blackfriars to King Street West, southbound)
- George Leigh Street one-way (Sherratt Street to Cornell Street)
- Great Ancoats Street / Oldham Road and Oldham Street box junction
- King Street bus gate (Essex Street to Cross Street, westbound)
- Kirkmanshulme Lane / Mount Road box junction
- Kirkmanshulme Lane / Mount Road compulsory direction left
- M56 / 6 Junction Wilmslow Road banned turn
- New Quay Street / Water Street box junction
- Oxford Road bus gate (Cavendish Street to Hulme Street, southbound)
- Oxford Road bus gate (Devas Street to Dover Street, northbound)
- Oxford Road bus gate (Whitworth Street West to Portland Street, northbound)
- Palatine Road / Princess Parkway box junction
- Portland Street bus gate (Minshull Street to Aytoun Street)
- Princess Street / Cross Street bus gate (Cross Street to Clarence Street, eastbound)
- Quay Street / Deansgate box junction
- Quay Street / Gartside Street box junction
- Radium Street one-way (Naval Street to Jersey Street)
- Regent Road / Trinity Way box junction
- Stockport Road / Dickenson Road and Stanley Grove box junction
- Stockport Road / Dickenson Road banned turn
- Stockport Road / Stanley Grove banned turn
Codes used at these cameras: 31 (entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited), 50 (performing a prohibited turn), 33 (using a route restricted to certain vehicles), 29 (failing to comply with a one-way restriction), 32 (failing to proceed in the direction shown by the arrow on a blue sign).
Questions
What are the Manchester bus gate times?
Oxford Road applies 6am to 9pm every day. Portland Street, King Street, Deansgate, Bridge Street and Princess Street apply 24 hours a day, according to the council.
How much is a Manchester bus gate fine?
£70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days.
Do private hire taxis count as taxis in Manchester bus gates?
No. Manchester says only buses, black cabs (hackney carriages) and pedal cycles may use them, plus trams on Princess Street.
Does Manchester send a warning at new moving traffic cameras?
Government guidance says councils outside London should send a warning for a first contravention in a camera's first six months. Check the start date on our camera pages against your PCN.
Where do I appeal a Manchester PCN if my challenge is rejected?
To Traffic Penalty Tribunal, which is independent of the council. Appeals are free and must normally be made within 28 days of the Notice of Rejection.