Parking tickets and fines rake in record £700m profit for local councils

Westminster made £46.4 million in profits from parking tickets and fines

Legally, parking fines must be used to manage traffic and profits must be spent on transport and infrastructure projects (Getty)

Local councils in England have made record profits of £700 million from parking fines.

Westminster made the most from parking tickets and fines, with £46.4 million in profits, though this was down 9 per cent on the previous year.

RAC Foundation, the motoring analyst, said that between 2014 and 2015, local councils generated a combined 'profit' of £693 million from day to day, on and off street parking operations.

“The financial sums involved in local authority parking are huge and the overall profits eye-watering," Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said.

"We are simply asking that all councils publish annual reports to tell drivers exactly where this huge excess ends up."

This year's record is 4 per cent higher than last year's £667 million surplus. The calculation is made by taking the income from parking charges and penalty notices and deducting the running costs.

RAC Foundation said that higher fines, rather than lower running costs, were behind the higher surplus.

Legally, parking fines must be used to manage traffic and profits must be spent on transport and infrastructure projects. But with many councils under increasing financial pressure, there are fears money could be funnelled elsewhere.

“The precarious financial state of many councils is a genuine concern, not least when it comes to the risk of a cut in road maintenance spending which will hit every one of us," Gooding said.

The top ten was dominated by London councils, with only Brighton and Hove and Nottingham making the list.

Nottingham ranks second outside London because it collects several million pounds per year from the Workplace Parking Levy, which is now in its third year. This is dedicated to transport improvements in the Nottingham area, mainly for extension to the tram system.