Parents using a Cheshire East car park in Middlewich for the school run will have to pay more than £220 a year if parking charges are introduced, the town's mayor has said.

Cash-strapped Cheshire East is currently consulting on proposals which include introducing charges in some towns where parking is free.

Middlewich is one of the few towns in the borough which has free parking.

If the proposals go ahead as currently drafted, then the town's three council-owned car parks would see charges of 60p for the first hour. To park for between six to 10 hours on Civic Way would cost £3.40.

Middlewich would still have the cheapest charges on all its car parks in the borough. In Alsager, for example – another town where parking is currently free – it would cost £1 for the first hour on the Fairview Car Park and £4.30 for six to 10 hours.

But Middlewich mayor Colin Coules told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this is the wrong time to even consider introducing charges to the town because it will have a devastating effect on families and businesses.

"If charging goes ahead in its current format, parents will face a 60p charge to drop off their children at school safely, and another 60p to collect them. On a 37-week school term that's £220 a year, or face a dangerous kerbside set down. That`s a stark choice for any parent to have to make," said Cllr Coules.

"The Southway Park is the only safe area to drop child off at school or for a trip to the park. This is because the surrounding area is mostly made up of premises without off-road parking. Car park charges will encourage more congestion, as motorists will look for kerbside parking to avoid the new cost. Unless this can be stopped or free parking made available at peak times, the dangerous situation we have already, will be much, much worse."

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He added: "The shopper is also going to feel the effect, as going to the high street for one hour twice a week will cost £1.20. It won`t be long before higher prices drive more shoppers to out-of-town stores and retail parks. This will be a devastating blow for our struggling high street."

The issue of parking charges has been a thorn in the side of Cheshire East administrations ever since the council was formed in 2009.

Most towns in the former Crewe & Nantwich and Macclesfield borough council areas pay to park but some towns in the former Congleton borough area, including Alsager, Sandbach and Middlewich, have always had free parking.

Cheshire East is facing a potential budget deficit of £12.8m this financial year – and has to find ways of raising cash as well as taking difficult decisions to cut services.

Deputy leader Craig Browne (Alderley Edge, Ind) , who chairs the council's highways committee, said: "The inherited legacy where some residents pay to park and others do not has caused a sense of unfairness.

"The council is proposing to address this imbalance – taking into account each town's characteristics – while also responding to the higher costs of maintaining our car parks, which require regular resurfacing, improved lighting and markings and the installation of EV charging points."

He urged residents and businesses across the borough to take part in the consultation, which runs until November 1.

The proposals can be viewed here 

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You can also view the proposals by contacting your local library by appointment. Please do not simply turn up.

Representations to the proposals must be emailed to: [email protected]