WIRRAL hospital bosses have defended controversial car park charges saying they spent more on traffic management measures last year than the £1.5m they received from parking fees.

An outcry was sparked in August when the cost of leaving a car for more than 20 minutes at the borough's main emergency hospital - Arrowe Park - rocketed overnight from £2.50 to £3.20.

Now a nationwide inquiry has revealed that several trusts are making a packet out of patients - with some raking in more than £3m in parking charges every year.

According to latest figures seen by the Globe, Wirral hospital parking fees brought in £1,475,612 in the last 12 months.

But the organisation spent £1,480,247 on car park schemes including creating additional spaces and redesigning access and exit routes for buses.

A spokesman for the hospital trust said: “We do not make a profit from car parking.

“Our car parking is managed in-house and not through an external car parking company.

“All monies generated from parking facilities at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge hospitals are used to fund a range of car park management and travel plan measures such as maintenance, traffic management, security, park-and-ride, inter-site buses and lease of land.

“This year we have invested in excess of half-a-million pounds to create additional parking facilities including an extra 100 spaces, as well as a redesign of the access and egress to the site for buses servicing Arrowe Park Hospital.

“Given the significant financial challenges across all NHS hospitals, and to protect frontline and clinical costs, our car parking charges are benchmarked against other local providers and the local authority.

“As such they remain one of the lowest for any acute hospital trust in the North West and among the lowest in the country.”

NHS trusts have been accused of levying a "tax on sick people" after an investigation revealed seven had made more than £3m a year from car parking fees.

The probe by the Press Association found a further eight made more than £2m a year while 33 raked in more than £1m annually.

It also found hospitals were handing over millions of pounds to private firms to run their car parks for them and allowing some to cash in on parking fines.

Almost half of all trusts also charged disabled people for parking in some or all of their disabled spaces.

The Department of Health said: "We expect all NHS organisations to follow our guidelines on car parking, including offering discounts to disabled people.

"Patients and families shouldn't have to deal with the added stress of unfair parking charges and our guidance rightly helps the public hold the NHS to account for any unfair charges or practices."