WELSH councils have pocketed £10m profit from parking charges and fines in the past year, with Monmouthshire near the top of the list.

The figures, acquired from Freedom of Information requests from the Welsh Conservatives, show that local authorities ran a surplus of £10,065,347 in 2017/18 from parking charges and fines, 25 per cent more than the previous year.

Cardiff and Swansea city councils came top, generating profits of £3.9m and £2.7m, respectively, with Monmouthshire on £954,514, (compared with £911,496 in 2016/17 and £900,708 in 2015/16).

The figures refer to profits incurred after deductions for expenditure, such as staff and equipment costs.

The total amount raised through on and off road parking charges in Monmouthshire was £1,531,154, while parking penalties generated an income of £77,010 (compared to £80,107 the previous year).

Meanwhile, Bridgend, Newport, Flintshire and Pembrokeshire all registered deficits, meaning the local authorities were spending more money implementing parking charges than they were raising from them. Between them the four councils cost taxpayers £1,525,605 last year alone.

Councils have to pay Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) on their own car parks, which goes into a Welsh central pot, meaning money raised by a council might be redistributed elsewhere.

Ten local authorities have never contributed more NDR revenues than they received, whereas seven councils have received less NDR revenue than they contributed for more than half of the 16 financial years between 2000/01 and 2015/16.

Welsh Conservative and Shadow Local Government Secretary Mark Isherwood AM, said: “These statistics show two different problems raising from the same issue: either councils are making money from the people keeping the high-street alive or are running inefficient services to charge drivers simply for the sake of it.

“Although it is right money raised this way is reinvested in public services, the burden of revenue raising should not be placed on drivers who already have to pay considerable and recurring costs towards something that is a necessity, not a luxury.”