Parking charges in Portsmouth to go up - and will raise £150,000 for city council

Charges will rise by 3.1 per cent at most council-controlled on-street and off-street sites, having been frozen for the last seven years.

The council said the 'slight increase' was being made to 'avoid parking charges being too far below other more sustainable travel options and potentially encouraging more car journeys'.

‘We appreciate that many people need to use their cars to access a variety of locations across this city,’ cabinet member for transport Lynne Stagg said. ‘However, given our wider goals for reducing air pollution and improving the health and wellbeing of people in the city, we are making a slight increase to parking charges for the first time in many years.’

The move is expected to raise the council about £150,000 a year but opposition councillors said the hike was ‘punishing’ residents and businesses at a time when the cost of living is rapidly increasing.

Simon Bosher, leader of the Conservative group and its spokesman for transport, said the Lib Dem administration was ‘paying lip service’ to sustainable travel while ‘squeezing money out of people living in the city’.

‘The economy needs a kick-start at the moment,' he said. 'We are seeing huge pressures on household expenses and now is not the time to be doing something like this.

‘If you want to encourage more people to use sustainable travel methods then you need to make them easier to use, not make it more expensive for people who drive.’

Short stay fees in some areas will remain at their current rate although others will rise by 'between 10p and 40p' depending on the length of stay.

The increases will come into effect on April 13, 14 and 19.