COUNCILS in Worcestershire raked in nearly £5 million from parking 'profits' last year - with motoring campaigners calling it "eye watering".

The RAC Foundation has urged local authorities to consider cutting car parking rates after publishing new figures revealing hefty surpluses.

It says a record £693 million of profits were made by councils across England in the 2014/15 financial year, including £2.2 million in Worcester and £1.6 million for Wychavon.

Two of Worcestershire's seven councils made losses, with the county council's account in the red by £29,000 and Redditch 'losing' £129,000 - but taking those into account the overall surplus was £4.9 million.

The RAC says its figures represent all the parking income minus councils' declared running costs, and has called the excess sums "huge".

But the councils, which have questioned the validity of the RAC's data, insist the cash is poured back into running parking services and funding essential transport-related projects.

Steve Gooding, a director from the RAC, said: "The financial sums involved in local authority parking are huge and the overall profits are eye watering.

"The legal position is that parking charges are to be used as a tool for 'managing traffic'.

"But with local government budgets under ever-greater pressure, the temptation to see them as a fundraiser must be intense."

Worcester City Council collected £2.95 million from parking charges in 2014/15 and another £490,080 from penalty tickets, before any costs were taken into account.

The authority's leadership decided to cut the city's rates last year, going as low as £1 after 7pm and just 40p-per-hour at selected sites to boost retailers - a tactic which worked.

Bosses have also pointed to the special offers for the Christmas period.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, deputy leader and cabinet member for economy, city centre and riverside, said today: "Worcester is a vibrant city drawing in thousands of visitors each day so it's crucial we keep the roads free from obstruction and offer visitors safe, clean, convenient and value-for-money parking.

"That's why we reduced our parking charges last year and intend to freeze them for the year ahead, and are proud that our charges are lower than many neighbouring towns and cheaper than commercial operators.

"In the run-up to Christmas we are also offering free parking after 6pm on Thursdays and visitors can park all day on a Sunday for as little as £1.20.

"We enforce on-street parking restrictions in Worcester on behalf of the county council with all income from fines being invested back into the service.

"The income we get from our car parks and off street parking, whilst being great value to drivers, brings in revenue that supports other council services such as street cleaning and our fabulous parks and has allowed us to continue to invest in a vibrant and prosperous city."

Vic Allison, the managing director at Wychavon District Council, said: "The income generated from the charges is used to maintain and invest in the car parks."

Elsewhere in the county the RAC said Malvern Hills District Council ended up with a surplus of £56,000.

The Wyre Forest's profit was £481,000, while Bromsgrove's surplus was deemed to be £659,000.

The RAC said the national figure of £693 million in parking profits for 2014/15 compared to £667 million in the previous 12 months - a four per cent rise.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils, has blasted the RAC's work as "misleading".

A spokesman said: "Councils are on the side of hard-pressed motorists.

"The average motorist is paying 30 times more to Whitehall in charges and taxation each year than they do to their town hall through parking."

The 2014/15 financial year ran until the end of March.