Cornwall has the second highest cash surplus from parking charges outside London, figures for the last financial year released by the RAC have revealed.

The news that the council had more than £8m in the bank, before taking account of capital expenditure, has prompted an angry response from Tony Powell, mayor of Liskeard.

Traders in the town have directly blamed April's increase in parking charges by Cornwall Council as the major reason for a drop in footfall, leading to shop closures.

Cllr Powell has been making enquiries to find out from Cornwall car parks department how much it would cost the local taxpayer to bring back a 40p charge for the first hour, instead of the current £1 for two hours. The figure is believed to be around £65,000.

Cllr Powell told the Cornish Times it 'said a lot' when one of the poorest counties in the country had only the London authorities and Brighton and Hove ahead of it for surplus car park cash.

Misery

'From the perspective of South East Cornwall, which has one of the lowest national average annual income figures, it seems Cornwall Council continues its relentless march to sideline the area, and to maximise the misery for its residents and town centres through excessive and prohibitive charging regimes, simply to milk an easy cash cow. This table will be the straw that breaks the camels back.'

The figures are detailed in a report for the RAC on revenue returns for local authority parking operations. They show that Cornwall, with £8,211,000 in its parking account during 2010/11, ranked seventh nationwide, second only to Brighton and Hove, if all of the London authorities are taken out of the equation.

In a statement, a Cornwall Council spokesman said: 'Cornwall Council is one of the largest unitary authority areas in the country and has responsibility for about 240 car parks, almost 25,000 car parking spaces. Around 60 of these car parks are free car parks, the remainder are charged for and from which income is generated to support a range of vital council services.

Pressure

'The reported figures show the surplus from council-operated car parks in 2010/11 as £8.221m. Unfortunately the report fails to take into account the size of the local authority area, the total number of car parks and parking spaces and the seasonal effects.

'In summer, Cornwall's population swells significantly with tourist hot spots seeing a substantial increase in visitors, leaving many car parks full, and putting increased pressure on council services. In 2011/12 the surplus from car parking increased by 2.5 per cent to £8.434m.

'With a £170m cut in funding from central Government, but an increase in the cost of providing essential services, car parks are an important source of income. Each year we consult with local councillors and members of the public on the charging structure in a bid to balance our need for income with local views.'