WIRRAL'S top 10 most profitable car parks have been revealed after new figures showed the council raked in almost £1.9m in fees over the past year.

Figures obtained from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show income from both on- and off-street pay and display, together with revenue generated from parking permits, totalled £1,870,623.

The exact breakdown of council car park revenue meant £326,849 came from on-street pay and display, £1,448,821 from off-street, and £94,953 from parking permits during 2017/18.

The ten highest earning car parks were also revealed in the FOI, and saw Birkenhead’s Europa Square car park emerge as the site bringing in the most income.

Birkenhead dominates the top ten, with West Kirby also having two entries in the list.

These are the top ten locations where the most revenue was generated in 2017/18:

  • Europa Square Car Park, Birkenhead
  • Concourse Car Park, West Kirby
  • Europa Pools Car Park, Birkenhead
  • Liscard Village Car Park, Wallasey
  • May Road Car Park, Heswall
  • Price Street Car Park, Birkenhead
  • Dee Lane Car Park, West Kirby
  • Seaview Road Car Park, Wallasey
  • Barton Street Car Park, Birkenhead
  • Mount Avenue Car Park, Birkenhead

The news comes after it was revealed visitors to Wirral coastal beauty spots could soon have to pay to park.

Charges are set to be brought in at locations around New Brighton and Wallasey, as well as Hoylake and West Kirby.

Parking fees at Wirral country parks were introduced earlier this year despite a 16,000-strong petition calling for the plans to be scrapped.

Responding to the FOI figures, Cllr Ian Lewis, leader of Wirral council’s Conservative group, said the figures showed the “shocking level” at which drivers were now being “fleeced” by the council.

He added: “We’ve seen the effect the increased charges have already had on our shopping areas – such as Liscard and Birkenhead – and our country parks. People have been driven away.

“Not content with this, Labour is now set to introduce new charges for anyone who fancies a stroll around the coast.

“If drivers want to know where their money is going, they need to look no further than the £2.6m Labour has spent on private management consultants over the past 12 months.”

Cllr Stuart Whittingham, Cabinet member for Highways and Infrastructure, said: "Car parking charges are never going to be popular, Between 2010 and 2015, Wirral Council has had to make cuts totalling more than £150 million and in the coming year the authority must reduce its budget by another £45 million as Government continues to cut funding to local authorities.

"The charges are reasonable - particularly when compared with other authorities and privately-run car parks - and any surplus revenue that the Council earns through car parking charges goes into the budget to be reinvested in Council services, helping to offset the ongoing cuts to our budged imposed by central Government."