A Clapham street has council bosses rubbing their hands with glee after generating more than £850k in fines in a single year.

Clapham Park Road, which is controlled by Lambeth Council, is third most profitable road in the country, according to figures from a Freedom of Information request.

Almost 15,000 motorists were caught by wardens or cameras in 2011 meaning the local authority raked in £875,658 - this equates to more than 40 motorists per day Elsewhere in the capital, the most profitable road in London was Southampton Row, in Holborn, which accrued £1.2m in fines from a whopping 19, 335 tickets - equating to 50 motorists per day.

The Camden street headed a list of 10 roads in the capital which between them hauled in £6.7m from penalties in 2011.

Second-worst fines black spot was Bounds Green Road in Haringey, North London, where 14,000 drivers were hit for £1,1,002,360.

A spokesman for the AA called the fines a "parking penalty pot of gold" for local authorities and said some drivers took chances by stopping briefly on busy restricted streets but others were misled by poor signs or "lack of a visible deterrent".

He added: "With councils’ budgets being cut they’re only too glad to tap into this."

Outside the capital, wardens hit 5,000 drivers in the High Street of Slough, Berks, for £270,506.

Roads in Birmingham, Brighton, Liverpool and Leeds were also revealed as being among those which brought councils across the UK a total of £1.3billion last year.