Hospitals across Kent have been criticised for making millions of pounds from parking charges.

It comes as the the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has been revealed as one of the worst offenders in the country, raking in nearly £5 million last year from patients attending appointments or visiting loved ones and its own staff.

KMTV reporter Joe Coshan examines hospital parking charges

The figure gives it the fifth highest income in the country for parking charges and campaigners are now calling for tariffs to be scrapped altogether.

However, the trust - which runs the William Harvey in Ashford, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in Margate, Kent & Canterbury in Canterbury, Buckland Hospital in Dover, and the Royal Victoria in Folkestone - says a range of concessions are available for visitors, including Blue Badge holders, cancer and dialysis patients.

Nationwide, the latest figures show hospital trusts have taken in £254 million from motorists - which experts say could fund the salaries of an extra 8,000 nurses for a year.

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