BRIGHTON and Hove City council made more than £23million in surplus parking charges last year – more than any other local authority outside London.

The latest figures from the RAC show the city council raked a surplus of £23.4million from parking in 2017/18.

This is ten per cent up on the previous year, according to the RAC foundation.

And it is more than double the £11.3million generated by second-placed Milton Keynes council.

Brighton and Hove council said the RAC figures “do not take into account the cost of our parking enforcement contract, nor a number of other factors including administration, appeals, debt recovery, and the cost of parking scheme reviews and new parking schemes”.

It claimed that only £15.2million of its parking income was surplus.

A spokesman said: “Most of our surplus is spent on providing free bus passes for older and disabled people.

“Councils are legally obliged to provide these, while no dedicated government funding is provided for them.

“This money would otherwise have to be taken from other council services. Parking charges are used by councils to manage traffic and fairly share out limited road and parking space.

“The alternative is a chaotic free-for-all, with more traffic, air pollution and accidents.

“Charges are set at a higher level in the city centre to reduce demand for on-street parking. This helps improve air quality and ease congestion at busy locations.

“By law, the rest of the money has to be re-invested back into other transport projects.

“These include support for bus services that would otherwise not be viable.

“Fees and charges are reviewed annually to ensure they provide value for money.

“Most paid parking in the city is still charged at £1 per hour as it has been for many years.”

Top ten councils outside of London

1. Brighton and Hove £23.4m

2. Milton Keynes £11.3m

3. Birmingham £11.2m

4. Cornwall £9.7m

5. Bristol £9.5m

6. Manchester £9.5m

7. Newcastle £8.5m

8. Leeds £8.4m

9. Bath & NE Somerset £7.8m

10. Guildford £7.3m