Shoppers using the Gallagher Retail Park in Cheltenham helped - indirectly - to raise nearly £350million for the UK Treasury last year.

That's because the retail park that houses Sainsbury's, Sports Direct, DFS and a Greggs among others is owned by the Queen as part of The Crown Estate.

In their annual report released this week, The Crown Estate - who own a £14billion portfolio of buildings, land and mineral-bearing sea bed around the country, revealed their profits for the year.

And because of an 18th century agreement struck by King George III, himself no stranger to a trip to Cheltenham, those profits get ploughed back into the UK Treasury.

In the 2018/19 financial year, The Crown Estate recorded profits of £343.5million, a record figure that means nearly £3billion has been ploughed back into the public finances in the past decade.

Much of that revenue has been raised by the extensive portfolio of central London properties which include all of Regent Street and much of St James'.

The Crown's regional portfolio is "focused on prime retail and leisure destinations across the country" and includes Cheltenham's Gallagher retail park as one of 25 Crown Estate sites.

The Crown also owns an extensive energy, minerals and infrastructure portfolio both on and offshore facilitating offshore wind and mineral production as well as cables and pipelines.

They also manage all of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland and claim ownership of all of Scotland's oysters and mussels.

The total value of its property assets were valued at £13.5billion by the latest accounts, an increase of 2.1 per cent on the previous year.

The Crown Estates date back to the Norman Conquest of 1066 when King William the Conqueror took control of all lands.

Following his death his descendants bequeathed much of the lands to nobles and barons who supplied them with men and arms to fight battles.

The remaining royal lands were divided into manors where, apart from a brief time after the Civil War, they remained property of the reigning monarch.

In 1760, King George III reached an agreement with the Government over the estate in order to clear the debts of the sovereign.

The agreement meant the lands would be managed on behalf of the Government and the surplus revenue would go to the treasury.

In return, the monarch would receive a fixed annual payment, which later became known as the Civil List and now the Sovereign Grant.

That agreement was enshrined in law by the Crown Estate Act of 1961 which declared that the estate would be managed by an independent board who are duty bound to enhance its value.