Parking charges are set to increase across Medway.

Plans to hike fees for motorists were announced following the council’s annual budget meeting held last month.

It means pay and display charges will rise for people using off-street and on-street parking from April 8.

The tariffs, currently the same for both off-street and on-street use, will increase by 60p for all time periods.

They will rise the most for a 30-minute stay on the road from 70p to £1.30 - representing an 85% increase.

This is as well as a 50% rise from £1.20 to £1.80 for up to an hour stay, and from £1.70 to £2.30 for up to two hours.

Further hikes will come into effect for those parking for up to four hours to £3.30 from £2.70, from £3.70 to £4.30 for up to six hours, and from £5.40 to £6 for more than six hours.

A 48-hour stay is to also cost an extra 5%, rising from £10.20 to £10.80.

Meanwhile, people wishing to use a number of car parks across the Medway Towns are to face similar surges in charges.

Multi-storey car parks at Rochester Riverside and The Brook, as well as Blue Boar Lane and Corporation Street are also set to bump up their fees.

Like on-street costs, all four will now charge motorists an extra 60p per visit - regardless of duration.

Only those parking in Blue Boar Lane and Corporation Street car parks for more than five hours, at a cost of £13.20, will see the fees remain as they are.

Medway Council is anticipated to receive an extra £1 million over the next 12 months following the decision.

One person described the new charges as “ridiculous,” while another labelled them a “joke”.

The council also confirmed during the budget meeting free swimming for U16s and over-60s will be cut.

This was alongside the announcement of Rochester Visitor Centre closing and both The English Festival and the summer Dickens Festival not going ahead this year.

Council leader Vince Maple acknowledged he was proud to have passed a budget which made difficult decisions but ensured a “roadmap to financial sustainability”.

“Seeking exceptional financial support was necessary to protect the services many people in Medway need and value," the Labour leader said.

However, Tory opposition leader Adrian Gulvin said it was only piling up debt for the future.

He said: “This budget is entirely predicated on Medway Council being bailed out by the Conservative government.

“Piling up debt for future generations is not the answer to local government funding".

The local authority was granted its request by the government for “exceptional financial support” to avoid effective bankruptcy prior to the budget being passed.

It allows Medway Council to borrow £14.7 million to cover running costs for the financial year and put in place long-term efficiency saving schemes.

It was included in the list of local councils allowed to access additional funds to cover some of its running costs – which local authorities are not typically allowed to do – as well as to pay up-front costs for efficiency schemes.

The permission does not mean Medway Council is receiving extra funding from central government, just that it can borrow money in the short-term which it will have to pay off later.