OVER £70,000 in profit has been made from parking charges and fines in the Malvern Hills in the last year.

New data from the UK Government's Department of Levelling-Up, Housing, and Communities shows how much profit each local authority in England makes from parking (all the money made from parking charges along with fines).

The data ranges from the financial year April 2022 to March 2023 and has shown that £76,000 in profit has been made in Malvern

In Worcester, £1,687,000 in profit has been made, and £828,000 in profit has been made in the district of Wychavon.

A spokesperson for Malvern Hills District Council said that overhead costs reduce the total "significantly"

They said: “We do make a surplus on car parking when comparing direct costs and income (i.e. the costs of civil enforcement officers, repairs and maintenance, utility costs). 

"However, if you apply overhead costs incurred in running the service (ICT, income processing, finance, HR, insurance, estate management etc) this is reduced significantly”.

A Worcester City Council spokesman said that the council would refer to the £1,687,000 as a surplus and not as a profit.

He said: “The income the city council receives from parking is directly reinvested in parking enforcement, maintaining the city’s car parks and streets, and providing essential services for Worcester’s residents.”

MOST READ: New Laylocks Garden Centre development is taking shape

Jayne Pickering, deputy chief executive and director of resources for Wychavon District Council, said that the council has not increased parking charges since 2011.

She said: “We don’t make a profit on our parking services, any surplus leftover once costs have been removed is used to invest in the maintenance and further improvement of our car parks and other council services.

"It also helps maintain our strong financial position and keep Council Tax down, which is why we have one of the lowest Council Tax charges in the country.

“We haven’t increased our parking charges since 2011 and unlike other areas, most of our car parks continue to be free after 6pm and on Sundays.

"We’re constantly making improvements including a rolling programme of maintenance and the recent installation of cash and contactless payment machines in the majority of our car parks.”