Councils set to make record £1bn in parking charges

COUNCILS have raked in almost half a billion pounds from on-street parking fines, the RAC has found, as experts warn that local authorities are viewing drivers as “wallets on wheels”.

Latest Government figures show that English councils made £454million from on-street penalties in the past financial year, up 6 per cent on 2017-18.

Parking charges, permits and fines made councils a record profit of more than £930 million last year and the RAC has predicted that the figure will be more than £1 billion this year.

The RAC also revealed that London councils were making the biggest profits. Westminster Council’s parking schemes were by far the most lucrative last year, with the authority earning just under £70 million profit, followed by Kensington and Chelsea on £37,341,000 and Wandsworth on £26,348,000.

Brighton and Hove Council made £26million, which means it is the fifth most profitable authority overall.

Edmund King, president of the AA, warned: “Councils do this at their peril as motorists will vote with their wheels and go to out-of-town shopping centres and buy stuff online instead.

“The high street is already under attack so excessive parking fines are shooting themselves in the foot and this appears to be more about making money than actually regulating traffic and parking. They shouldn’t view drivers as a wallet on wheels.”

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Even as parking income soars, the amount of money being spent on routine road maintenance by councils has been in reverse.”

The figures come from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data on councils’ income and expenditure on parking schemes.