Brighton and Hove motorists spending the most money on parking outside of London, according to new study

Brighton and Hove City Council brought in the largest amount outside London at £20.1 million, with Nottingham in second place (£13.6 million) and Milton Keynes in third (£10.8 million).

The figures mean the amounts produced from council parking operations in England rose by 9 per cent over the past year.

Some £756 million was generated from the on- and off-street parking activities of the 353 local authorities in England during the 2015/16 financial year.

The research comes after The Argus reported in November that parking generated £20,396,807 across the period - with £9.6 million coming from street charges, £6.8 million from parking permits and £3.7 million from penalty charge notices. These figures came from an annual parking report by the council.

Soozie Campbell, chairwoman of Brighton and Hove Tourism Alliance, told The Argus parking was so bad she drove to Lewes to do her Christmas shopping.

The council has said parking profits are ringfenced for transport investment and mostly go towards funding bus passes for the over 60s and concessionary bus routes.

The latest national data – analysed for motoring research charity RAC Foundation by transport consultant David Leibling – comes from the statutory annual returns that councils make to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The Argus has been told the figure was calculated by taking income from parking charges and penalty notices and then deducting running costs.

Nationally, income was up 4 per cent and costs fell by 2 per cent over the past year. It represents a 9 per cent leap on the 2014/15 figure of £693 million, and is 34 per cent higher than in 2011/12.

The research states that the figures are a surplus.

The largest totals were seen in London, with the capital's 33 local authorities accounting for 44% of the country's total. Westminster had the largest figure (55.9 million) followed by Kensington and Chelsea (£34.2 million) and Camden (£25.2 million).

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: "These numbers might seem eye-wateringly large but in part they reflect the growing competition for space in many of our towns and cities.

"In 1995 there were only 21.4 million cars on Britain's roads; today there are 30.7 million.

"Parking charges are one of the tools councils use to keep traffic moving while also allowing people reasonable and affordable access to high street shops and other facilities.

"The good news is that any profit generated by councils from on-street parking must by law be spent on transport-related activities, and as every motorist knows there's no shortage of work that needs doing."

Councillor Gill Mitchell, who leads on transport for Brighton and Hove City Council, previously said: "We are not trying to make as much profit as we can out of parking.

“Parking enforcement aims to keep traffic flowing and more fairly allocate scarce parking spaces. Without parking enforcement the city would be a chaotic free-for-all dominated by illegal parking.

"The money raised is ploughed into providing 46,000 bus passes which helps older people travel and probably keeps thousands more vehicles off the roads."

Ms Campbell added at the time: "The rail option is abysmal and a real concern at the moment and there are no real alternatives being considered like a viable park and ride scheme."

These are the 10 councils in England with the largest surpluses from parking operations, according to the RAC Foundation:

1: Westminster (£55.9 million)

2: Kensington and Chelsea (£34.2 million)

3: Camden (£25.2 million)

4: Hammersmith and Fulham (£22.7 million)

5: Wandsworth (£21.2 million)

6: Brighton and Hove (£20.1 million)

7: Islington (£15.5 million)

8: Haringey (£14.9 million)

9: Nottingham (£13.6 million)

10: Hackney (£12.9 million)

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We are a large city, one of the most successful at attracting visitors and the fact that more and more residents are asking us to install residents’ parking schemes, which also means charging non-residents for parking.

"Eighty per cent of parking machines or pay-by-phone locations charge one pound an hour. Parking charges reflect heavy demand and are the fairest way of sharing out scarce space in the busiest areas.”

The council queried the surplus figure of £20.1 million supplied by the RAC, which includes on-street and off-street parking.

The spokesman said its surplus for on-street parking, based on its annual parking report, is £12.7 million.

Including off-street parking, the surplus rises to £15.3 million.