Plans to hike parking charges across several towns and villages have been met with fury from worried residents who fear it will “kill off the high street”.

Sevenoaks council is proposing increasing both its on and off-street parking costs from next year.

It will impact several car parks in Sevenoaks town centre, including Bligh's Meadow, The Stag Theatre, Bradbourne, St Johns & St James, as well as Bevan Place, Park Road and Station Road car parks in Swanley, and Darent, Quebec Avenue and Vicarage Hill car parks in Westerham.

It comes after the local authority agreed to consult on the new charges at a cabinet meeting on November 14.

Now, one month on, it is carrying out a consultation to see people’s views on the proposals, which, if approved, would see motorists have to fork out an extra 3%.

The council says the move is being planned to cover the rising “costs of inflation”.

In a message posted to social media calling for responses to its survey, it said: "We're proposing to increase our parking charges by an average of 3% from April 2025.

“The cost of providing our parking services has increased over the past year as we pay more for maintenance, business rates, utility bills and other running costs.”

However, the move has not gone down well with some residents believing it is simply unnecessary.

One woman said: “Absolutely insane - are you trying to kill off the high street?”

While another frequent visitor to Sevenoaks town centre added: “This is absolutely ridiculous. The prices are already crazy expensive compared to other car parks in surrounding areas.

“This, along with the astronomical rents shops have to pay, will just mean we lose our high street which is already in trouble.

“The state of the potholes in Bligh’s car park doesn’t give me any faith that this money goes towards maintaining the car parks.

This, along with the astronomical rents shops have to pay, will just mean we lose our high street which is already in trouble

“Focus on rent control so we have more independent shops. Sevenoaks council once again out of touch."

Others labelled the proposal as “greedy”, “short-sighted and “a tragic shame”.

“You don't need to keep increasing the car park charges," another explained.

“If anything, you should be lowering them to encourage people to want to come to our town - not add more expense.”

At Bligh's Meadow the cost of parking would rise from £1 to £1.05 for 30 minutes, from £2 to £2.05 for one hour, from £4 to £4.10 for two hours, from £6 to £6.20 for three hours and from £10 to £10.30 for up to four hours.

More information can be found here.

The council says the people can share their views on the proposed changes by midnight on Sunday, December 22.

It will then meet again on February 13 to consider the comments from the survey.