Warwickshire County Council is set to increase on-street car parking charges in five towns by more than a quarter from March. 

The county's cabinet, the panel of Conservative councillors in charge of major service areas, this week approved the recommendations of officers, the professionals who do the day-to-day work of the council, to put up the prices by 27 per cent in Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth, Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon.

The prices have not been touched since 2018 and the council says the rises remain slightly below the combined rate of inflation over those five years. 

Half an hour will now cost 70p instead of 55p and each half an hour up to two hours goes up by the same rate – motorists currently paying £2.20 for two hours will pay £2.80 from March 1, 2024. 

The idea is to bring the provision in line with Department for Transport (DfT) guidance which encourages pricing to be set in such a way that encourages motorists to use off-street car parks for longer stays. 

Warwick District Council has already agreed to put up parking prices in off-street car parks across Kenilworth, Warwick and Leamington next year.

The county council's report reads: "This would encourage drivers to park off-street, thus minimising on-street congestion caused by vehicles searching for spaces and supporting environmental benefits."

It also notes that "DfT further recommends that regular and planned price increases are favoured over larger sporadic increases which can cause confusion" and a part of the proposal is for the prices to be reviewed annually to avoid chunky rises in future years.

There is also to be a review of the times that restrictions apply to bring them in line with the off-street provision implemented in the relevant districts and boroughs. 

Cllr Jan Matecki is the portfolio holder for transport and planning. He oversees the council's work in this area.

"The on-street parking hasn't changed since 2018 and this puts us out of kilter with the districts and boroughs and the guidance from the DfT," he said. 

"The whole idea is to improve the health and wellbeing of shoppers in our town centres so they are not confronted by cars driving around trying to find cheaper parking spaces. It will also improve the air quality in our town centres as well."