A CRUNCH meeting has been scheduled in a bid to halt plans to introduce Sunday parking charges in Blackburn.

Blackburn with Darwen Council’s call-in committee will meet on Wednesday, August 29, as the authority’s Conservative group attempts to refer plans to introduce the measure back to the executive board for reconsideration.

The new fees for on and off-street parking in Blackburn have been condemned as ‘short-sighted’ and ‘fleecing’ drivers who want to go shopping.

The charges of £1 for up to three hours and £2 for more than three hours are part of a general increase in parking costs agreed earlier this month.

The fees for on-street meter parking and for parking on the council’s off-street car parks will rise by 20 pence for each band.

The council’s traffic enforcement officers will be deployed on Sundays when the new charges are introduced.

Blackburn with Darwen regeneration boss Phil Riley, who made the decision, said charges had been pegged since 2011 while the shopping experience in the town had improved greatly.

Council car parks include Brown Street, Barton Street, Fleming Square, King Street, Salford, Simmons Street, Weir Street, Waves, Watford Street, Mill Lane, Starkie Street, and Feilden Street multi-storey.

Fees in Darwen will be unaffected.

In 2017/2018 Blackburn with Darwen Council’s gross income from parking charges and related fines was £872,580 before the costs of civil enforcement officers, new machinery and meter maintenance.

Nearly half a million parking payment transactions were completed across the borough.

The new charge for on-street short-stay car parking between 8am and 6pm would rise from 60p to 80p for 30 minutes; £1.20 to £1.40 for an hour; from £1.80 to £2 for an hour and 30 minutes; and from £2.20 to £2.40 for two hours.

The fees for on street long-stay parking would rise from £1.30 to £1.50 for two hours; from £2.20 to £2.40 for four hours; from £3.10 to £3.30 for six hours; and from £3,80 to £4 for more than six hours.

Short-stay off street parking charges between 8am to 6pm would see an increase from £1 to £1.20 for one hours; from £1.70 to to £1.90; from £2.40 to £2.60 for three hours; from £3.80 to £4 for five hours and from £8 to £8.20 for more than five hours.

For long-stay car parks fees would rise from £1.30 to £1.50 for up to two hours; from £2.20 to £2.40 for four hours; from £3.10 to £3.30 for six hours; and from £3.80 to £4 for over six hours.

The charges for Feilden Street multi-storey, which would remain closed on Sundays, would increase from £1 to £1.20 for an hour; from £1.50 to £1.70 for two hours; from £2.50 to £2.70 for four hours; from £3.70 to £3.90 to £6 and to £6.20 for more than eight hours.