London rakes in £1million every day from car parking fees and fines – but the amount that goes back to improving roads will infuriate drivers

LONDON boroughs have revealed that they spend under a quarter of their £362million 'profit' from parking fees and charges on repairing the capital's roads.

Improving off-street parking is also seemingly low on the councils' priority list, as only a minuscule 0.3 per cent of parking income was designated for better car parks.

A total of £82million was spent on road maintenance in the 2016/17 financial year, according to the newly-released report.

That's a 23-per-cent allocation, despite a pothole epidemic plaguing streets that cost British drivers £400 each in car damage last year.

It pales in comparison to the £155million gained from parking charges that subsidised public transport fares.

This includes free travel provided for over-60s with a Freedom Pass, Zip Oyster cards for children aged five to 10 and discounted fares for students.

Over 40 per cent of drivers' parking fees and fines are spent on these concessions instead of road maintenance.

Meanwhile, delivering parking services themselves cost London boroughs £241million - that equates to around £30 per person living in the capital.

Westminster charged car owners the most for parking, bringing in a total of over £88million.

The local authority also had the most surplus - money leftover after investing in 2016/17. This 'profit' will be reinvested across the categories shown above during the current financial year.

However, councils kept a total of £25million from parking fees and fines for their reserves savings.

Julian Bell, Chair of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee, said: "Many people only think about parking when they have a bad experience, such as when they can’t find a space or if they do receive a parking ticket.

"This means it is easy to misunderstand why councils and TfL manage parking services.

";However, with nearly 10 million journeys made in the capital daily, our report shows that parking management makes a major contribution to London’s economy, worth £3.58billion, and every pound invested in parking services benefits our city 10 times over.

"London boroughs use a range of parking measures in different parts of the capital to ensure people, goods and services can move around the city safely and efficiently, incentivising cleaner and healthier forms of transport whenever possible."