The invention relates to a parking brake for a vehicle, comprising a handle (2) which is a displaceably mounted with respect to a support (6), a coupling unit (3) which tenses a brake cable (4) when the handle is displaced (2), and a locking device (17) ensuring that the handle (2) remains in a locked position. The aim of the invention is to produce a hand brake which is compact, cheap to produce, and which translates a traction force exerted onto the handle into a tensing of the brake cable. According to the invention, the handle (2) can be pulled away from the support (2) in an axial manner by means of a guiding device (5, 7), and the support (6) is coupled to a translation unit (8), which converts the axial displacement of a part associated with the handle (2) into a tensing of the brake cable (4).