Town halls make £300m from on-street parking: Sum has surged 56% since Coalition was elected Councils were accused of killing town centres yesterday after it emerged that they made a profit of £317million last year from parking tickets and fines - an increase of 56 per cent since the election in 2010. Critics claim town halls are defying instructions to use parking revenue solely to improve the transport network. Instead, they are using it to plug budget shortfalls. Councils across England earn £866,000 a day, mainly from drivers who want to park in town centres to use local shops. The parking figures indicate that, rather than making necessary cuts, local authorities are using motorists to raise revenue The surge in parking profits comes after the Coalition slashed the amount of central government funding for councils to help get the national deficit under control. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has also imposed a freeze on council tax, limiting the amount of money local authorities can raise. He has called on them to cut waste and reduce the salaries of highly paid staff. But the parking figures indicate that, rather than making necessary cuts, local authorities are using motorists to raise revenue. Government guidance says they should not use parking tickets for this reason. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has also imposed a freeze on council tax, limiting the amount of money local authorities can raise Most on-street parking is in town centres and shopkeepers say that overzealous enforcement harms their businesses, encouraging people to drive to out-of-town shopping centres or use the internet. Motoring organisations are angry that while councils" parking profits have soared, spending on roads has gone down. Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Councils are on to a winner as on-street income rises and costs fall, leaving fatter profits. When this government came to power we were told the war on the motorist was going to end. Almost four years after that promise was made these figures show the battle continues. Edmund King, president of AA, said: "These figures raise further serious questions about whether the high profits from on-street parking are genuinely returned to transport schemes as is required. Road users tell us they are fed up with having to put up with crumbling, potholed and flooded roads, so where do the parking profits drivers generate go? The figures, released in response to a parliamentary question from Labour MP John Denham, show that in 2012-13, councils in England made a profit of £316,792,000 from fines and tickets after administration costs are taken into account. This is up from £202,749,000 in 2009-10. Local authorities also make hundreds of millions of pounds a year from car parks, although the total has fallen since the election. The total amount raised from both on- and off-street parking has gone up by more than 20 per cent since the election, to almost £600million. Drivers have been let off fines worth £1million for driving in bus lanes because they were inadequately signposted. Almost 17,000 fixed-penalty tickets and £60 fines were sent out in 11 weeks after Essex County Council put new bus lanes in Colchester town centre in October. But councillors cancelled them after admitting the lanes had confused motorists. Many drivers received several fines after tickets took up to three weeks to arrive. One had 17, while a disabled driver was given three in 23 minutes while trying to park. Almost 3,500 people signed a petition set up by resident Chris Harvey calling for fines to be waived until the bus lane restrictions were clearer. He said: "Someone with common sense should have realised they needed to do something." Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said councils could be forced to produce an annual report on their parking enforcement and profit, adding: "Councils have delivered operational savings from lower costs, but it would appear these have not been passed to consumers. The law is extremely clear that on-street parking may not be used as a source of general revenue. We have published detailed proposals to rein in over-zealous practices and stand up for hard-working people and support local shops. Louise Ellman, who chairs the Commons Transport Committee, said: "Parking charges should not be imposed to raise funding for local authorities." Peter Box, of the Local Government Association, said: "Income from charges and fines is spent on running parking services and any surplus goes on essential transport projects such as bringing our dilapidated road network up to scratch and providing subsidised bus travel for children or elderly residents."