Hospitals in England made £103m by charging up to £3.65 an hour to park

Six NHS trusts clawed in more than £2million each from fees and another 25 made more than £1million.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust topped the list for raising the most money from employees, patients turning up for appointments and visitors coming to see sick loved ones - £2.56million.

Hospitals made £103m from car park charges last year, but the actual figure is likely to be much higher as some trusts did not respond to information requests

It was followed by Cambridge University Hospitals Trust with a profit of £2.55million, Southampton University Hospitals Trust on £2.41million and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust on £2.34million.

Last night MPs and patients' groups condemned the amount being collected from these fees.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: 'While it is legitimate for hospitals to recoup car park maintenance costs through charging, these figures suggest trusts may be using car park fees as a money-making scheme.

'Car park charges must be proportionate and affordable for those who have no alternative but to drive.

'There is no excuse for charging patients who have to regularly attend hospital for chemotherapy or other ongoing treatments.

'Trusts offering few concessions or exemptions must look again at their policy and make sure that they are not penalising the most vulnerable.'

The figure for the year 2006-07 was uncovered by the LibDems from freedom of information requests to NHS trusts.

But because only 92 of 173 trusts responded, the true profit is expected to be much higher.

Some £78million was made from charging visitors and patients to park, and another £25million was paid by staff.

North West London Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes Northwick Park, St Mark's and Central Middlesex hospitals, charged the highest average parking fee - a staggering £3.65 an hour.

The LibDems also found that 24 trusts did not provide free parking for disabled drivers and 42 refused to offer reduced rates for patients regularly attending hospital for dialysis or chemotherapy.

Another 75 trusts did not provide free parking to volunteers - flouting guidance from the Department of Health.

Last year the system of parking fees was described as a 'complete mess' by the health select committee, which demanded an overhaul.

MPs criticised the wide variation in hourly rates charged across the NHS, which ranged from 30p to £4.

Parking charges were scrapped at Scottish hospitals last week - prompting angry claims that English patients were once again the victims of NHS 'apartheid'.

The Scottish Executive followed the Welsh Assembly by axing the deeply unpopular fees - branded a 'stealth tax on the sick'.

The LibDem investigation also found that advertising was another source of revenue for NHS trusts, with the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust making £364,000 from advertising Cable & Wireless and Vodafone over the last three years.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital made £97,000 from placing phone masts on its roofs and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Trust in King's Lynn, Norfolk, has made £55,000 from baby scan photos since 2004.

Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the British Medical Association's consultants committee, said: 'It is completely unacceptable for hospitals to charge extortionate fees for car parking.

'These charges can mount up, creating additional stress for patients and their families when they are at their most vulnerable.'

But he added: 'However, removing this potential source of hospital revenue must not result in funding being diverted away from frontline patient care and we look to trusts and government to deliver innovative solutions in this regard.'

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it was down to individual trusts to set parking charges on their premises.

They said car park overheads such as maintenance and security needed to be covered, adding: 'Not to do so would risk diverting funds away from patient services.'