Councils in England have seen their parking ‘profits’ rise by almost a third in just four years, according to data released by the RAC Foundation.

In 2017-18, the combined surplus made by the 353 English local authorities increased to £867 million.

RAC analyst David Leibling said: “When totted up, council parking income amounts to a multi-million-pound business.”

Waverley Borough Council, which operates off-street parking, is ranked 62nd of the 353 councils listed and its parking operation surplus was £3.59m in 2017-18 – an increase of £475,000 on last year.

A Waverley spokesman said: “The guidance relating to off-street parking places stipulates that at the end of each financial year any surplus must be spent on meeting the cost of providing and maintaining off-street parking places.

“If the council considers that providing further off-street parking places is undesirable, it may use the surplus to cover meeting costs incurred, a highway improvement project, or environmental improvements.

“Every year, this council spends in excess of £9m on the maintenance of its car parks, parks and countryside sites and keeping the streets clean and litter-free. This expenditure far exceeds the net surplus generated from the operation of its car parks.”

Guildford Borough Council, which operates on-street parking in the borough on behalf of Surrey County Council, is ranked 30th and made a parking suplus of £7.34m in 2017-18 – a decrease of £219,000 on the previous year.

Environment director Peter O’Connell said: “The vast majority of Guildford’s surplus is income from our own off-street car parks, not on-street parking or penalty charges. It goes to support delivery of core council services.

“The surplus from the Waverley on-street account is around £208,000 and is spent on highways repairs.”