FOUR East Lancashire councils made £924,000 out of parking charges in 2013/2014, a new report has revealed.

But the profits made by Chorley at £444,000 and Burnley at £263,000 pale into insignificance compared to big earning London boroughs Westminster at £51 million and Kensington and Chelsea art £33.5 million.

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Outside the capital, the councils raking in the most from parking charges are Brighton and Hove (£18.1 million) and Nottingham City (£12.1 million).

The RAC Foundation study showed that nationwide the money local authorities earn from parking rose 12 per cent last year.

English councils’ combined surplus from parking operations went from £594 million in 2012-13 to £667 million in 2013-14.

The five local authorities yielding the biggest take in parking fees were all in London, the research showed.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association condemned the report as “misleading”.

Blackburn with Darwen council raised £105,00 from parking charges, penalty tickets and fines minus the cost of running the system.

This was up £80,000 on the previous 12 months but down on 2011/2012’s £203,000 after the introduction of free parking on council carparks on Saturdays and weekday afternoons in July 2102.

The Burnley figure is less than the £286.000 in the previous year and £321,000 in 2011/2012.

Chorley’s £444,000 is down from £494,000 in 2012/2013 and £601,000 the previous year.

The other council to make a profit was Ribble Valley, which earned £112,000 from parking charges and fines down from £119,000 the previous year.

In contrast Hyndburn, where parking is free on most council car parks lost £156,000 because of maintenance costs and little income.

Pendle, which operates a disc parking, lost £46,000 and Rossendale lost £60,000.

RAC Foundation director Prof Stephen Glaister said parking charges were a “one-way street for councils”, claiming they had risen annually for the last five years while spending on local roads had fallen.

The figures were reached by adding up income from parking charges and penalty notices, then deducting running costs.

Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said the analysis “shows how town halls are committing daylight robbery by ripping off drivers with exorbitant parking charges”.

The LGA’s transport spokesman, Peter Box, rejected the claims, arguing the study was “based on the deep-rooted misconception that councils make a profit from parking”.

By law, any surplus councils make from parking fees must be ploughed back into transport projects such as road improvements.