A controversial £700,000 car park has made Gateshead Council just £45-per-space since opening.
And the Quarryfield Road site is on course to not turn a profit for decades, according to figures obtained by ChronicleLive.
The 555-space site, built without planning permission, opened last June after approval was rushed through ahead of the Great Exhibition of the North.
The council still believes usage will increase - however one councillor has slammed it.
"This car park has been a disaster for Gateshead," claimed Lib Dem Jonathan Wallace.
The site was approved after councillors were told the site could generate £290,000 a year for the town.
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But a Freedom of Information request revealed that in its first nine months, it raked in just over £25,000.
"The figures show that on an average day only 35 vehicles are using the car park," claimed Coun Wallace, who criticsed the development from the outset.
"At current rates of usage, it will take over 20 years to pay back the cost of building the car park - and that takes no account of the cost of running this car park."
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The council was left red faced after it emerged the huge site was built without planning permission.
Expecting a "huge influx" of visitors for the exhibition, the planning committee retrospectively awarded a five-year temporary approval for the site, which costs £7.50-a-day to park on.
However the council insists while it was built to to provide car parking during the Great Exhibition of the North, it was also to "support the council’s future development plans".
“Over the next few years a series of major new developments right across Baltic Quarter and Gateshead Quays, including the international conference centre and arena, will not only remove many of the existing parking spaces but will create huge demand for more," said a council spokesperson.
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“We know from our discussions with international developers that the availability of car parking and other infrastructure, such as our own energy centre, are important considerations in deciding where to locate, so having Quarryfield Road ready now means we have everything in place to attract and support those developments."
Previously, ChronicleLive revealed the site was initially making just over £50-a-day. However, the latest figures suggest it is now making over £90.
A council spokesperson added: “Car park use is already increasing and set to continue with construction of the nearby Riga, a major new office development due to open in early 2020 which will house 600 people who are likely to need somewhere to park."
In its first year, it is still on course to fall well short of the £290,000 figure mooted by the council.
However, the site has made at least an extra £5,600 after 224 parking fines were dished out.
Gateshead Council refused to disclose internal records relating to discussions about the development.
In its repsonse, the authoirty said it needed to preserve the "integrity of the decision-making process".
But Coun Wallace - who dubbed the car park a "white elephant" in a party publication - added: "The council must now publish all the papers and correspondence so that we can get to the bottom of how £700,000 was wasted in this way."
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