Councils make record £867m from parking charges as profits soar by two-thirds in a year fuelling concerns that authorities are exploiting motorists

• Town halls made millions by increasing cost of street parking, car parks, permits
• Biggest rise in Medway, Kent – profits from £3.1m in 2016/17 to £5m last year
• Outside London, Brighton and Hove racked up the biggest surplus of £23.4m
• In total, councils across the country generated £1.6billion in parking revenues

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Profits from council parking charges have soared by up to two-thirds in a year, according to a report.

Figures show how town halls outside of London have generated millions by increasing the costs of on-street parking, car parks and parking permits.

The biggest rise was seen in Medway, Kent, where parking profits jumped 65 per cent from £3.1million in 2016/17 to £5million last year.

Town halls outside London made millions by increasing the costs of on-street parking, car parks and parking permits (stock)

In Southampton, parking profits soared 62 per cent from £4.2million to £6.8million. They rose more than 20 per cent in Manchester and Bournemouth and by almost a quarter in Bath and North East Somerset. 

Outside the capital Brighton and Hove racked up the biggest surplus of £23.4million – up 10 per cent from £21.1million, according to figures looked at by website click4reg.

In total, councils across England, including London, generated £1.6billion in parking revenues – of which a record £867million was profit.

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However, councils insist all the money has to be ploughed back into local transport, and some say they have increased fees to help tackle congestion and reduce pollution.

But the dramatic increase in revenues has fuelled concerns that they are exploiting motorists to generate extra revenues and shore up their parlous finances.

A recent Daily Mail investigation revealed that parking charges are set to increase again from next week.

Hampshire, Nottingham, Reading, Cambridge, Brighton and Exeter are all planning big increases.

Hampshire, Nottingham, Reading, Cambridge, Brighton and Exeter are planning big increases in parking charges (stock)

Steve Gooding, of the RAC Foundation, said: ‘These large leaps in profit will astonish many motorists.

‘Local authority parking has become big business. The turnover and profit that many councils are seeing would be the envy of many high street retailers.

‘It is exactly these struggling firms that councils must ensure they are not killing off by pricing drivers out of towns and cities.’

As well as charging more for car parks, many councils are set to raise the cost of residential permits. And shoppers and churchgoers will be hit by the end of cheaper Sunday parking in some areas.

Analysis by the Daily Mail showed residential parking charges will soar by as much as 230 per cent across Hampshire from April.

Northampton council is trebling evening car park charges from £1 an hour to £3 on weekdays, with the cost of two hours’ parking rising from £2.40 to a flat fee of £4 for parking between three and five hours.

Councillor Martin Tett, of the Local Government Association, said: ‘Any income raised through on-street parking charges and parking fines is spent on running parking services and any surplus is only spent on essential transport projects, such as tackling our national roads repair backlog and other local transport projects.

‘Councils are on the side of motorists and shoppers when setting parking policies, which aim to make sure there are spaces available for residents, high streets are kept vibrant and traffic is kept moving.’

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