Residents outraged at plans for Bushy Park car charge

Visitors to all of London's royal parks could soon be forced to pay for parking.

Richmond Park and Bushy Park, Teddington, are the only two royal spaces which do not charge to use their car parks.

Plans to charge up to £3 at Richmond prompted a backlash against the Royal Parks Agency last month and now it is revealed that Bushy is also earmarked for the fees.

The scheme, which is subject to public consultation, has outraged residents, who claim they were led to believe Bushy would be the one park to escape the charges.

Jacqueline Mitchell, 68, who drives to the park every day to walk her dog, said residents had no idea what the agency was considering until Richmond Park consultation documents came out on 30 January. She said: "It felt like they sneaked Bushy Park in there and hoped people would be so busy getting worked up about Richmond, Bushy would get overlooked.

"There is no need to charge people to park. They are simply doing it to add a few pennies to their coffers. They forget that for people like me, living on my paltry pension, every penny counts." Pieter Morpurgo, chairman of the Friends of Bushy and Home Parks, said the park had been awarded lottery money to encourage people to use the facilities. He said: "If you slap on parking charges you are deterring people from using the park."

Colin Buttery, of the Royal Parks, said no decision would be made until the consultation process ends on 1 May.