Charges per hour in most car parks are expected to go up by nearly a quarter following a vote.

Dover District Council's cabinet agreed to this at a meeting on Monday.

This would mean that the cost to use a council car park from April would go up from £1.30 for one hour to £1.60, a rise of 23%.

Thie council says this is due to money lost during the pandemic, a reduction of about 20% in income from charges and penalties.

The new costs would stay the same for all of 2022/23 and 2023/24.

The price rise is mainly from £1.30 to £1.60 an hour for off and on-street spaces and would continue to be from 9am to 6pm, in most cases from Monday to Saturday.

Sites affected are:

Deal. Beach Street (off-street only). Middle Street, South Street, Stanhope Road, Town Hall, West Street.

Dover. Bench Street, Camden Crescent, Ladywell, Maison Dieu, Norman Street, Pencester Road (off-street only),Russell Street, the Seafront, Stembrook, Woolcomber Street.

Sandwich. Market Street, New Street, The Quay.

There are to be different ticket price charges for other car parks for example £1.50 to £1.80 an hour in the following spaces.

Deal. Beach Street (on-street between Broad Street and South Street), King Street, Prince of Wales Terrace, Victoria Road.

Dover. Castle Street, Pencester Road (on-street only).

The issue of car park ticket prices is brought up in tonight's full district council meeting.

An officers' report for that says: "The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on parking income streams due to on-going travel restrictions and guidance such as working from home.

" The 2021/22 gross income (before costs) for parking fees and penalty charge notices is currently forecast to be performing at circa 20% below the original budget."