by John James

The cheapest place to leave your car in a council-owned car park in Kent has been revealed in analysis carried out by KentOnline.

A comparison of how much it costs to park your car for an hour in each of the 13 districts in the county has found Dartford to be the least expensive at just 50p.

By contrast, Canterbury and Thanet proved to be the most expensive with charges per hour ranging from 80p to a whopping £2.50 respectively.

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Swale and Medway were the next best value for money on average, with parking coming in at a £1 in each.

Parking prices in Dover district were frozen earlier this month for the third year in a row capping them at £1.10 for the first hour.

In Thanet, the most expensive district in the county, pay meters in five of its town-centre car parks are set to a summer timetable from April 1 until October 31.

Last year, that meant beach goers paid a whopping £4 for the first hour and £2 for every hour after that.

Yet new rates due to start in April will see this lowered to £2.50 for the first hour - still the worst in Kent.

The previous high charges proved controversial with locals, who successfully campaigned for them to reduced at the end of last year over fears they would put people off visiting the district.

Graham Pemble, manager of Owlers Nook in Broadstairs, was critical of the high charges.

He said: "It's ridiculous. It's far too expensive and it's put people off coming to the town.

"People have told me they wouldn't pay it, that they'd go someplace else.

"I think cheaper parking would make quite a bit of difference to the number of people coming into the high street."

Folkestone has the most free parking in Kent, with more than 180 free spaces.

It also has three 'free-to-charge' electric car parks.

Cllr Ann Berry said: "It's Folkestone and Hythe District Council's initiative - because they own the car parks they can make that decision.

"As more and more electric cars come on the road, I think more and more electric car parks will pop up not just in Folkestone but in different parts of the district."