Motorists have paid almost £2 million for a year's Parking on the streets of Brighton and Hove.

The money raised by on-street parking schemes has been revealed in the annual statement of accounts for Brighton and Hove City Council.

Accounts show £1,961,764 was generated as a surplus from on-street parking during the past financial year, compared with £1,758,318 recorded in the accounts for the previous year.

Campaigners say some of the cash should be spent on cutting the cost of parking for residents and traders.

By law the money has to be ploughed back into road maintenance and improvements, better parking, improved public transport and better lighting.

Transport councillor Simon Battle said much of the money would go back into public transport and improved controlled parking zones.

He said: "It may sound a lot but it is the sort of sum you would expect from a local authority running parking enforcement."

Tory opposition leader Brian Oxley also stressed the need for cash to go into improved public transport.

He said: "I do not want to see any of the money diverted into other things."

Lib Dem group leader Paul Elgood said the cash generated by parking schemes should be spent on reducing the cost of parking charges.

He said: "With revenue so high, the council should also put money back into sustainable transport."

However, traders campaigning against the council's parking charges are furious the council has raised so much revenue at the expense of their businesses.

Roger McArthur, vice-chairman of Traders Against Parking Persecution (Tapp), said: "There's profit and then there's profit.

"Perhaps the council can use some of this to cut the waiver fee of £3 and to reduce the £300 traders permit charge to something like that paid by residents for parking.

"After all, we only use one bay."

A council spokeswoman said she could not give a breakdown of where the money would be spent but said the cash had already been allocated.

She said: "It goes towards all sorts of things, like repainting yellow lines, putting together new parking schemes, roadworks - everything within the traffic budget.

"It is not really a surplus as the money has already been allocated. It cannot be spent on anything other than roads and public transport.

"The figure is higher than previously because then we did not have a full year of operation."

The council can expect even more revenue next year, as it is planning to extend residents parking from Sackville Road about a quarter of a mile west into Hove.