Visitors to many of Warwickshire's country parks will have to pay more to park from the start of April after price increases were signed off this week.

The portfolio holder for environment, heritage and culture, Cllr Heather Timms agreed to a 10 per cent price hike for parking and other country park activities where there was no increase last year.

A county council report explained that it was important to find a balance between meeting costs and making the parks affordable.

It said: "It is recognised that, especially during the recent pandemic, the amenities provided to our communities by the country parks service are of the highest value and it is important to ensure these remain accessible to all. This will support peoples' health, safety, and wellbeing and also the local visitor economy. 

"As a result of these factors, it is important that access to our parks remains affordable and value for money, and on a par with similar amenities locally, to remain competitive. However, it is also vital that we increase fees and charges sufficiently to reflect rising costs generally and sustain income to help pay for service delivery."

The price increases will affect those parking at Kingsbury Water Park and Ryton Pools where the cost has not changed for a number of years. Car park charges at Burton Dassett, Hartshill Hayes and Pooley country parks will not increase nor at Stratford Greenway.

Among the other park users facing higher prices are those with horse-riding annual permits and those with fishing permits at Kingsbury with both going up by 10 per cent.

The report added: "The price increases detailed above should provide for additional income of approximately £58,000 based on current visitor numbers/sales. This is a total increase of approximately 10%, based on average income over the last five to six years for car parking and permit income at Kingsbury and Ryton, as well as on the fishing income achieved. 

"Whilst the country parks service is heavily dependent on income from car parking charges, we are confident that, given the relatively modest and infrequency of fee increases, our regular users will continue to pay to visit their local country park or greenway."