MALDON District Council made hundreds of thousands of pounds in profits from parking last year.

Analysis by the RAC Foundation shows councils across the country are making hundreds of millions from parking activities.

The motoring research group said parking “is quite a money-spinner” for some councils, but the Local Government Association says any surplus is spent on essential transport projects.

Maldon District Council made £872,000 in profit from parking services in 2019-20, according to the research.

That was down four per cent from £910,000 the previous year, but a massive 91 per cent increase from £457,000 in 2015-16.

Across England, councils made a combined profit of £891million from parking activities in 2019-20 – down five per cent from £934 million a year earlier.

They received an income of £1.7 billion from their parking operations and spent £854 million running them, the figures show, although interest payments or depreciation of assets such as car parks are not included.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said “Parking management is quite a money spinner for some local authorities, and nationally it is a big business.

“The surplus for 2019-20 is down a little on the year before which may in part reflect the impact of the first Covid lockdown which saw traffic levels plummet at the end of last March.

“The dip is likely to be much deeper for the current financial year given the range of restrictions over the past 12 months and the Government’s current plea that we should all stay at home if we can.

“Going forward there are likely to be many councils who are actually looking to cut parking charges as a way of encouraging more people to visit their high streets which are fighting for survival.”

David Renard, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, said: “Income raised through on-street parking charges and parking fines is spent on running parking services.

“Any surplus is spent on essential transport projects, including fixing potholes and tackling congestion, but it would take more than a decade and £10 billion to tackle our current roads repair backlog.”