The millions of pounds local councils raise in parking fees and charges should be spent on improving public transport, according to a major bus operator Stagecoach.

The company, which operates routes between Swindon and surrounding towns, says the near £1 billion councils make a year from pay and display, and fines should go towards improving life for bus passengers and encouraging more people to get around town’s without cars.

But Swindon Borough Council, which made a surplus of £3.3 million in 2017-2018 from its parking provision says it already does that.

Stagecoach says councils across the country made £925m in surplus from parking last year.

Managing director of Stagecoach UK Bus Mark Threapleton said: “Towns and cities across Britain are facing a congestion and air quality crisis, which is damaging the health of our bus networks, the health of our economy and the health of individuals.

“These figures show that councils are making huge profits from car parking every year, but instead of that money being reinvested in measures to help bus passengers and encourage modal shift to sustainable bus travel, bus budgets are being slashed.

“With around 30 per cent of high street spending coming from bus users, these investment cuts are not just bad news for public transport, but bad news for local businesses.

“If local authorities are serious about addressing air quality, backing the high street and supporting local communities, we believe car parking profits should be ring-fenced to protect and improve Britain’s buses. This is absolutely not about subsidies for bus companies, it is about targeted measures to help bus passengers.

“We could see a massive positive impact if that level of funding was used to promote sustainable bus travel, deliver better bus priority for passengers, and introduce traffic management measures to address congestion.”

Andrew Wickham, managing director of Swindon’s Bus Company echoed those thoughts, adding: “Proceeds from parking fees and charges could be well spent on improving infrastructure for bus travel in Swindon. We welcome any funding that would help give our customers faster and more predictable journey times here.

“Bus travel is the perfect answer to the challenge of reducing congestion, and helping to lower emissions. With that in mind, we urge the council to invest parking proceeds into the provision of sustainable transport.

“At Swindon’s Bus Company we have, at our own cost, introduced new vehicles and improved services in recent years to help make bus travel an even more attractive option.

“It would be excellent if local authorities could play their part by using the profits from car parking towards improved networks and traffic management schemes for the benefit of those travelling by bus.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said authority was already doing this: “All the money we receive from car parking is ploughed back into passenger transport services, highway improvements, maintenance and other environmental improvements.

“The council has also obtained funding from Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership for a number of schemes to improve bus priority and journey times throughout the town, and a significant amount of money has already been invested to improve the borough’s cycle routes.

“All of these improvements have been carried out to encourage people to use sustainable transport instead of their cars reducing congestion and air pollution.”