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Cost of parking in Leeds rockets to £15m
MOTORISTS in Leeds are paying the city council almost £15m in parking costs and fines a year.
The figure has more than doubled in four years, according to statistics from the Department of Communities and Local Government which show that the local authority raked in 14.8m in 2006/07.
In 2002/03 the figure was 6.6m.
After costs, Leeds council made 6.3m last year from motorists parking in the city – compared to 8m in 2005/096 and 4.8m in 2002/03.
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The YEP revealed last month how charges in Leeds City Council's Beckett Street car park opposite St James's Hospital are to rise by 11 per cent. The cost per hour will rise by 10p to 1 per hour – maximum stay four hours – and is expected to earn the council an extra 40,000 a year.
The rise is part of a raft of on-street and off-street parking fee increases – some as high as 50 per cent.
Council chiefs hope to raise overall car parking income by five per cent in 2008/09 to help to fund other key council services.
A spokeswoman for Leeds council said: "Parking charges at Leeds City Council car parks are very competitive when compared with those of other parking facilities in Leeds city centre.
"We regularly check the markets locally and nationally and find that our charges for parking services are around 40per cent less than that in the private sector.
"Whilst we do charge for city centre parking, we also provide over 40 free car parks elsewhere in the district."
A recent council report setting out parking charge rises said: "The council faces severe budgetary pressures in 2008-09 and increases in revenue from parking charges help avoid other changes such as a rise in council tax or cuts in services."
Revenue raised from motorists has also gone up in other West Yorkshire councils.
Motorists paid 5.9m to Kirklees council in 2006/07, up from 4.8m in 2002/03. Wakefield council took 2.94m from motorists in 2006/07, up from 2.62m in 2002/03.
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