SCARBOROUGH Hospital made £411,500 from car parking charges last year.
The huge figure, released in a Freedom of Information request, also showed 1,546 motorists were fined for flouting parking regulations.
However, Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust said the cash would be pumped back into frontline services.
And a leading Scarborough Hospital campaigner backed the need for charges, but called on bosses to explore ways to further alleviate the problem. The statistics, released following a request from the Evening News, showed car parking charges totalled £411,506 from April 1 2011 until March 31 this year.
That figure included 1,546 motorists who received £60 fines for not displaying a valid ticket or parking outside a designated bay and causing a safety risk.
The charges, administered by an external company, were reduced to £30 if drivers paid within 14 days.
Leo McGrory, chairman of Scarborough and District Local Involvement Network, was initially sceptical when parking attendants were introduced in January last year to oversee the charges.
However, he told the Evening News he understood the need for parking to be monitored and funded by motorists, owing to previous safety concerns.
He said: “We have had several meetings with hospital officials over parking and know that it is a major problem.
“At the moment, it still hasn’t been solved but the attendants have made somewhat of a difference.
“Going back about two years and before we had those attendants, people would park on roadsides which would cause blockages and problems for ambulances and public buses.
“It is a big issue and one that we will continue to monitor.
“However, I do support the trust in the direction they are taking because of the difference the attendants have made in not allowing cars to park in areas which can affect ambulances and buses.”
The figures showed the cost of two hours’ parking at Scarborough Hospital is £2.50, with the minimum charge standing at £1.20.
Visitors spending more than four hours at the hospital have to pay £6.
As well as handing out fines at Scarborough, attendants also dished out 97 fines at Bridlington Hospital in the same 12 month period.
James Hayward, the trust’s director of facilities said: “The income generated through parking charges pays for two car park attendants.
“However, the majority of the money is reinvested in frontline services.”
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