Motorists in Sussex have paid almost £20 million in fines and Parking charges in a year.

The money raised by local authorities' parking schemes netted £18.4 million.

Figures from the Department of Transport today show how income from charges and fines has rocketed since councils took over responsibility for parking from the police and ended free parking on many streets.

They insist the money raised is being ploughed back into public transport, road improvements and road safety schemes.

But campaigners and motoring organisations accused local authorities of profiteering from their parking schemes.

In East Sussex, there was a nine-fold increase in revenue, from £207,000 in 1997/8 to £1.86 million in 2003/4.

In Brighton and Hove, where the city council took over the regulation of on-street parking in 2001, the revenue amounted to £15 million, an increase of 328 per cent from the 1997/8 figure of £3.5 million.

The money comes from penalty notices, meters, parking vouchers and pay and display charges.

However, in West Sussex, where parking is still controlled by the police, the county council's revenue has grown only from £1.1 million to £1.5 million.

Roger Macarthur, chairman of Traders Against Parking Persecution, a pressure group set up three years ago to campaign for a fairer parking system in Brighton, said drivers were so angry about parking fines and charges they were preparing a campaign of direct action.

He said: "We are thinking about major protests such as jamming traffic along the seafront.

"We are sick of being ignored.

"The money they are making from parking is disgusting and the argument that the money is being put back into improving the roads is rubbish. I have lived here for 30 years and things are worse now than they have ever been. Roads are constantly congested and getting a parking space is a nightmare.

"Traders are charged £300 a year just for the privilege of being able to go about their daily business without getting penalty notices slapped on us.

"We have given the council so many brilliant ideas for ways of improving the situation but they completely ignore us."

Paul Watters, head of roads and transport at the AA Motoring Trust, said: "It's worth remembering that if we didn't commit offences we wouldn't be hit by charges.

"But it come as a tonne weight when people used to a lax system are suddenly being dealt with very heavy-handedly.

"Councils should be helping motorists avoid getting tickets, not the other way round.

"Authorities are being over-zealous and it is staggering, the amount they are making."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said increases in parking revenue were a national trend.

"A five per cent shift to public transport indicates that our transport plan is giving people the real alternative to car use and helping to reduce congestion.

"In accordance with the law, money from parking charges and parking fees is put to good use and ploughed back into public transport, road improvements and road safety schemes."

A spokesman for East Sussex County Council said: "The revenue we receive from parking is spent on transport measures such as traffic calming, safety, and public transport."

But Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, said local authorities had found a cash cow they were not going to give up.

He said: "Getting income from motorists is now clearly very big business and a major source of cash for local authorities.

"The danger is that councils will seek to exploit this rather than apply sensible parking regimes."

Nationally, there was a 71 per cent increase in the amount of cash raised from £638.5 million to £1.1 billion. It is the first time parking revenues have broken the £1 billion mark.