Parking charges helped rack up nearly £1.5 million profit for St Albans District Council in just 12 months - the highest amount in Hertfordshire.

Figures released last Thursday show the council’s annual revenue (excluding capital costs) from its off and on-street parking operations fell by more than £70,000 in 2011/12 to £1.451 million, compared to £1.524 million the previous year. In 2009/10, the amount was £1.317 million.

Mike Lovelady, head of legal, democratic and regulatory services for the council, said: "We provide parking as a service for the community and manage it in the interests of residents, businesses and visitors.

"We are responsible for 32 car parks, including 13 pay and display, and 27 Controlled Parking Zones.

"Overall, we spend more on enforcement activities than we receive from paid-for parking services."

In comparison, Watford Borough Council's profits increased by almost £200,000 in 2011/12 to £1.003 million, up more than 25 per cent from £813,000 the previous year. In 2009/10, the amount was £1.199 million.

Dacorum Borough Council made £558,000 during 2011/12 - up from £390,000 the previous year, with £451,000 collected the year before.

Hertsmere Borough Council made a £73,000 loss in 2011/12, compared with £97,000 the previous year and £182,000 the year before that.

Similarly, Three Rivers District Council also made a loss - £169,000 - in 2011/12, which was higher than the £153,000 deficit from the previous year. The figure for 2009/10 was £132,000.

To put the sums into perspective, the highest profit figure for England came from Westminster Council, in London, which made a surplus of £41.6 million in 2011/12.

The statistics were collected by the RAC Foundation and come from the annual returns that councils make to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The RAC Foundation said it 'added up on and off street charge income and penalty income and from this total subtracted daily running costs to produce the deficit/surplus (‘loss/profit’) figure.'