The car park at the Royal Victoria Hospital is paying off for the builder

The car park at the Royal Hospitals site in Belfast opened in the 1990s.

A report from the Northern Ireland Audit Office said profits from charging people to use it have exceeded what it cost the private firm to build it.

The Royal should have sought approval from the Department of Health before starting the project, but did not.

The report said that the Royal has acknowledged it proceeded inappropriately and now has measures in place to prevent a recurrence.

'Angry'

Lily Kerr from the health union Unison said that since it was a 20 year contract the hospital must have known "enormous profits would be going into private coffers".

"People will not only be shocked they will be extremely angry to know that their parking charges are not only causing strain on them, but the money is not even going on proper patient care," she said.

In a statement on Tuesday, the hospital said that at the time it was not allowed to use public money to find a solution to car parking on the site.

"Thanks to our car parking initiative it has become easier and safer to park at the Royal hospitals," it said.

The Audit Office report follows a number of earlier reports they have done not just on health issues but across the public sector.