Councils making fortune from drivers

London: Drivers paid out more than £1.3 billion (Dh7.41 billion) to councils in parking charges last year, it was revealed on Friday.

The record takings from local authority car parks were made public just days after a Downing Street report partly blamed high parking fees for the decline of the High Street. Some councils made at least £1 million from individual car parks in the most popular locations close to shopping districts, figures show.

The town halls collected a further windfall worth nearly £1 million a day in fines for illegal parking.

And they took £316 million on top of ordinary parking charges through targeting drivers with £80 fixed penalty tickets. The Automobile Association said that councils were using car park charges to tax motorists and shoppers.

"These new figures show that drivers are right to feel they are being milked of their cash by revenue-hungry local authorities and the league table probably comes as no surprise to drivers in those areas who probably have strategies to avoid being milked dry," a spokesman said.

"Local authorities should not overlook the fact that parking availability at an affordable and not punitive price can stimulate local economies at time when they need all the help they can get to keep going."

The figures showed that 11 councils — including Westminster in London, Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham and Reading — all raised more than £1 million from individual central shopping district car parks.

Big rise

One site near Oxford Street raised more than £2 million in just ten months, and even the medium-sized town of Reading generated £1.9 million from its Queens Road car park close to big stores.

Last year's total parking income haul of £1.32 billion was a rise of 3 per cent on the previous 12 months.

Of the 20 local authorities that made the most income from parking, 14 of them are in London.

Westminster Council hauled in a total of £84 million last year, more than double the amount raised by its nearest rival.

Outside London, the places that hit the motorist the hardest were Brighton and Hove, Birmingham, Cornwall, Manchester, Newcastle and Bath. 

Peter Box of the Local Government Association, councils' umbrella body, said sometimes parking charges can increase business for shops. "No council puts up parking charges lightly and they should rightly consult beforehand with residents and businesses which may be affected," he said. "Times change and often long-standing arrangements are no longer appropriate for growing towns and villages with busier roads.

— Daily Mail