Plans for a 500-space car park at Dover Priory Station have been dropped.

Planning and funding issues have made the idea “unfeasible” according to Network Rail.

Now it is working on a revised proposal for a 230-space car park, with Dover MP Charlie Elphicke saying he is frustrated by the delay.

Network Rail was supposed to submit a plan for the multi-storey development in April.

Mr Elphicke said this week: “I say less excuses and less shuffling.

“If they won’t get on with it then other organisations should be allowed to take it over.”

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Due to planning and funding issues arising during the early stages of this scheme, our original plans for a 500-space car park at Dover Priory station have been found to be unfeasible.

“We are now working on a revised proposal for a 230 space car park, which is due to be reviewed by the Department for Transport in the coming weeks.

'Although providing less capacity, our new plan will still offer 10 times the number of car parking spaces currently available on the station.' - Network Rail

“Although providing less capacity, our new plan will still offer 10 times the number of car parking spaces currently available on the station, which will be a significant improvement for passengers travelling from Dover.”

The need for more parking has been highlighted in the Land Allocations Local Plan (LALP), adopted by Dover District Council in January. At present it has 29 spaces.

It says: “Car parking at the railway station is extremely restricted which means that the station is not fully capitalising on the benefits of the HS1 (high speed) train service.

“People wishing to park and use the HS1 service are placing additional pressure on the nearby residential roads.

“Some commuters are driving to railway stations that are served by HS1 outside of the district that have larger car parking facilities.

“In order to address this important issue, land immediately to the west of the railway station has been identified as a potential location for a car park to serve HS1 and the town centre.”

The Mercury previously reported that Dover MP Charlie Elphicke had slammed Network Rail for “dithering” with its design stage.

This week he said: “We need to get the 230 spaces to start with. We need to drive it forward so residents in the Clarendon area are not putting up with commuter parking. I am very frustrated by this.”

A district council spokesman said: “We welcome the prospect of further parking at Dover Priory.

“We are in discussions with Network Rail on the details of the proposals, and on any other options that may be available.”