Southend Council has rejected refuted claims it has changed parking charges to make up for lost revenue from a car park sold to developers.

Brian Ayling and seafront traders claim the council is planning to get rid of a one-hour parking charge in favour of a minimum two hours in town centre car parks because it needs to recoup funds lost when the Seaway car park, off Lucy Road, is developed into a homes and leisure complex.

Those campaigning against the development say the council based its budget forecast on the almost £600,000 it receives in parking revenue from the site, but will only receive £282,000 from rent from developer Turnstone when the site is built.

St Luke’s ward councillor, Mr Ayling, said: “It appears they expect income from Seaway to be nearly £600,000 next year, but if Seaway goes ahead lease payments will only amount to £282,000.

"There is going to be a shortfall and I suspect that is why they have made the changes to parking.”

The council hopes to generate £700,000 by doing away with one, three and five hour parking bands. The change will mean those who wanted to pop into town for an hour for £1.10 will now have to fork out £1.90 for a two-hour ticket.

Paul Thompson, chairman of the Southend Seafront Traders’ Association, said: “We believe there is a budget shortfall over Seaway and that is why they took away the bands. It is to offset the loss they are going to have these changes.”

Andrew Moring, executive councillor for corporate and community support, said: “Budget proposals to change some car parking bands across the town centre and central seafront are absolutely not linked to the proposed Seaway project, and we have a detailed medium-term financial strategy that allows us to plan well in advance and ensure that we deliver a balanced budget each year.

“Seaway is a long-term project that will see the council benefitting from a more stable revenue stream, including significant business rates, rather than parking income alone. It will also see our costs reduced over the long term. Aside from the income, this project will regenerate this area, create hundreds of new jobs, boost the local economy and bring more people to this are.”