Parking charges at the William Harvey Hospital will rise from August 1 following a meeting by health chiefs.

Visitors and patients will now pay a minimum of £2 for two hours. Previously the charge was £1.70 for up to three hours.

A "pay-on-foot" parking charge could also be introduced at the William Harvey Hospital which is paid when you leave the car park rather than when you arrive.

A business case for the scheme is currently under development.

The charges at East Kent hospitals - including the Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone, the QEQM in Margate, the Kent and Canterbury Hospital and Buckland Hospital in Dover - is to be reviewed annually.

The move comes as the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the William Harvey, looks to save £23 million this year.

Staff permits will see a hike in price too, rising from £52.92 to £178.61 in two years time - a 242 per cent increase.

There are 2,767 staff working at the William Harvey.

The chief executive's strategic meeting held yesterday decided not to go ahead with proposals that would see disabled drivers paying to park.

In addition, shuttle bus fares will be increased from the existing fare of 10p to 50 per cent of that normally charged by bus operators.

The extra money raised is expected to be pumped back into expanding the shuttle bus service.

There will also be a review into parking to "ensure the balance" between patients, visitors, staff, disabled spaces and hot parking (these are used by staff travelling between hospitals).

There are currently 1,111 staff spaces, 32 hot staff spaces 444 visitor spaces, 64 disabled spaces and 12 drop-off spaces.

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