The East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust raked in over £1million profit on its car parks in the last year, it has been revealed.

The trust - which runs the Kent and Canterbury Hospital at Canterbury (pictured), Ashford's William Harvey Hospital, the QEQM at Margate, Dover's Buckland Hospital and the Royal Victoria Hospital at Folkestone - made £1,022,322 profit in 2008-09, according to figures obtained by Which? Magazine.

At £2,800.88 per day, it made the fourth highest profit of any trust in England, with only Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Trust, Southampton University Hospitals Trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust bringing in more.

The £1,022,322 figure represents a 175 per cent profit margin for the trust, Which? claims.

The amounts were obtained from the 23 biggest hospital trusts in England under the Freedom of Information Act.

Chris Hurley, head of operational estates for the East Kent University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said car parking charges at the hospitals paid for running costs, such as maintenance, lighting and car park attendants.

Any surplus is used for patient care.

He added: "If car parking was provided free then we would be faced with costs of hundreds of thousands of pounds – money which would have to come from our patient care budget.

"For example, the Trust recently spent around £265,000 to build a car park extension at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford."

He said the charges were among the lowest in the south east, with weekly tickets provided for frequent visitors.

Trsust spokesman Jim Murray added that while many of the trusts in Which? Magazine's list had only one hospital, East Kent Hospitals Trust had five.