City unveils parking charge rises

City commuters face a "hammer blow" after the Corporation of London unveiled proposals to raise some car park charges by nearly 200 per cent and the cost of on-street parking by more than 30 per cent.

The massive increases would force motorists travelling into the City to choose between metered parking at £4.00 per hour or car park season tickets at up to £1,560 per year.

The proposals come as the Association of London Government is considering a 50 per cent increase in parking fines, to a maximum of £120, and as Ken Livingstone prepares to impose congestion charging on drivers entering central London.

The increases are likely to come into effect by late November. They will mean that:

? Metered parking will go up from £3 to £4 per hour;

? Coach parking will go up from £5 to £6 per hour;

? Residents' parking permits will rise from £150 to £360 per year;

? An annual season ticket for the City's biggest car park, at White's Row in Spitalfields, will go up from £380 to £1,040;

? Charges at the London Wall car park will rise from £1,030 to £1,560 a year.

The increases are the result of the first review since 1997. However, they have massively outstripped inflation, which since 1997 has gone up by only around 2.5 per cent a year.

A corporation spokesman said they were necessary to keep pace with rising prices in neighbouring boroughs, and to help "maintain a balance" between the needs of the City for affordable parking and the corporation's aims to " contro l commuting by car". However, while bordering boroughsWestminster, Camden and Hackney all have £4-an-hour street parking zones, they also have areas where charges are closer to £2 an hour.

Motoring groups attacked the proposals. Becky Rees of the AA said: "This will come as a hammer blow to drivers, as part of the area affected is also in the congestion charging area."

She added: "We'd like to see the corporation's accounts so we know how much revenue they are making from parking compared to what they are spending. In previous years, the profit has been about £5million."

Edmund King of the RAC Foundation said: "The corporation should realise the best way to 'control commuting by car' is to improve public transport not price motorists off the road.

"The corporation is in danger of forcing many essential services out of the City."