Hospitals in the West Midlands are collecting millions of pounds a year in parking fees from patients and visitors, new figures have revealed.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust raked in more than a million pounds each.

Several others pulled in hundreds of thousands of pounds in charges. Patients and visitors – many of whom are elderly – often have no choice but to use hospital car parks.

The data, released by the Department of Health, shows Birmingham Children’s Hospital took £105,96, while Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust netted £1.3million.

The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust took £926,929; Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust £383,410; Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust £1.1 million and the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust £2.5 million.

Data was unavailable for Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust, Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.

Cancer charity Macmillan has repeatedly called for an end to the charges.

It has raised the parking issue on behalf of cancer patients who have to make regular hospital visits, with campaigners accusing hospitals of exploiting the vulnerable.

The Department of Health defended the charges and added they discouraged people not using the hospitals from taking up the parking spaces.

A spokeswoman said: “We do not think it a sensible use of taxpayers’ money to subsidise free car parking at hospitals for anyone who wants to use it.

“Our priority is the speed and quality of health care. It costs hospitals money to administer car parks, and if they don’t charge, they have less money for patients.

“However, they are supposed to have concessions for people who have to use car parks regularly, and arrangements for staff.”