EAST Lancashire people paid almost £600,000 in a year in hospital parking charges, it has been revealed.

Both staff and patients pay at least £1.80 every time they park at the Royal Blackburn Hospital or Burnley General Hospital - increasing to £3.80 if they stay more than six hours - adding up to £590,287 over the last 12 months.

Bosses at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust defended the charges, saying the spaces were cheaper than in many other areas and urged visitors to catch the bus instead.

But critics said the fees meant members of the public were forced to "pay twice" for hospital services.

Just over £337,000 of the charges come from members of the public, with staff paying a total of almost £253,000 per year.

Part of the cash pays the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) firms which run the car parks.

These are Consort Healthcare, which built the £113 million Blackburn hospital, and Catalyst Healthcare, which built the £30 million Phase 5 extension at Burnley General Hospital.

The trust pays a total of more than £20 million a year in repayments to the two companies.

The rest of the parking cash goes back into hospital funds.

Burnley Council leader and outspoken critic of the hospitals Gordon Birtwistle said: "We pay for the NHS through our National Insurance contributions, but then we have to pay for it again by parking our cars there.

"To say that people should use the free shuttle bus between the hospitals is ridiculous.

"They will still have to pay and park at one of the sites to get on it.

"And the main bus services to the hospitals are woeful.

"It's another monster rip-off by the health service nationally and our local trust.

"We have already paid for these facilities, but they still decide to charge people at very vulnerable times. It's an outrage."

The hospitals' financial manager Stephen Brookfield said: "In negotiation with our PFI partners, we set reasonable car parking charges which compare favourably with other trusts with our charges being amongst the lowest in England.

"The car parking management team provide secure, barrier-controlled parking with regular patrolling by parking and security officers.

"For regular visitors there are opportunities to buy passes which can drive down the cost.

"However, the trust operates a Green Travel Plan, the purpose of which encourages alternative travel arrangements.

"Visitors and patients are able to use a free shuttle bus between Burnley General Hospital and the Royal Blackburn Hospital, as well as frequent bus services available to all our hospital sites which is not only a cheaper alternative but is also environmentally a better choice."