Figures reveal organisers charged more than £150,000 in three years because it is not classed as a political march

Westminster council has been accused of applying “double standards” by charging organisers of London’s annual Pride march more than £150,000 over three years to host the event.

This summer, about 30,000 people from more than 600 groups took part in the parade celebrating LGBT communities, which was attended by an estimated 1.5 million people.

Figures from Westminster council obtained by the Guardian showed it charged organisers £166,146 to stage the event over the past three years. The bulk of the charges were made up of a £103,378 fee for the suspension of parking bays, a sum that had risen from £29,304 in 2017 to £44,526 this summer.

It is understood the council charges fees for events it classes as “parades”, but does not for political marches. Campaign groups have argued that Pride is a protest not a party, and have criticised organisers for allowing the event to lose its political message and become too commercialised.

More than 230 businesses took part in this year’s parade, compared with 217 charities and just 37 community groups. This year’s sponsors included Tesco, Amazon, Barclays and Facebook.

The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: “Westminster council exploits Pride as a cash cow. It slaps the organisers with charges that are not applied to NHS, anti-austerity and people’s vote marches. Why the double standards?”

Tatchell, one of the organisers of the UK’s first Pride parade in 1972, said the parking charges were “particularly outrageous”. “These parking charges were hiked by 51% in 2019, rocketing from £29,548 in 2018 to £44,526 this year,” he said. “I can see no reason for the sudden huge rise in charges other than what looks like Westminster’s attempt to milk Pride dry.”

The figures, which were released following a freedom of information request, show that when the costs of council officer time and cleaning for the parade route are taken into account, Pride had a net cost to the council of £165,664 over the past three years.

Councillor Ian Adams said the amount of money the council spent on Pride had increased by more than 60% since 2017, from £42,824 in 2017 to £70,956 this year. “We’re incredibly proud to be able to host one of the largest annual LGBT+ celebrations in the world, right in the heart of Westminster,” he said.

“We work closely with Pride in London every year, heavily subsidising events over the weekend and only recovering a portion of costs towards the significant work that goes into running a fun, safe, and successful Pride.”

Alison Camps, the co-chair of Pride in London, said organisers worked with the council to make the event a success, “from street trading licences and park hire, through to the thorough clean-up operation afterwards”.

“The council waives a number of costs each year, which we appreciate, meaning Pride has to pay around half of the total fees,” she said.

“As one of London’s largest annual events, we work with all of our partners to make sure we meet our budgets and get the best possible value for money. The savings we make go towards improving the event and making Pride a safe, fun and accessible space for all to enjoy.”

Notting Hill carnival, which also attracts more than a million people every August, is given a yearly grant of £175,000 by Kensington and Chelsea council. The local authority said it spent more than £700,000 on the event annually.