North Yorkshire: Council raises parking charges by 20%

Car parking charges across North Yorkshire go up by 20% on Friday.

North Yorkshire Council said the increase would pay for rising costs of repairs, lighting and security.

The authority said fees had not increased in some areas for more than a decade, with the majority unchanged for at least three years.

It said the rise was in line with inflation and represented an annual increase of 6.7% since the last change.

Corporate director of environment, Karl Battersby, said they had "refrained" from increasing tariffs for several years.

He said they had worked to improve parking services with investments in technology upgrades, "such as automated payment systems and the installation of electric vehicle chargers to accommodate the growing market".

"However, to ensure we can continue to maintain the current provision and not divert funds away from vital frontline council services, we plan on introducing an increase across the car parking tariff that is in line with inflation," he said.

The council added it would also be drafting a strategy later this year which will look at the parking provision across North Yorkshire to see where future changes and improvements can be made.