PARKING charges are to be introduced on Sundays in a North Yorkshire town, despite protests from residents, traders and churchgoers.

North Yorkshire County Council is bringing in charges in Harrogate from 10am to 6pm for on street parking where controls are in place. Over 2,500 people signed a petition calling on the council to abandon the plan but it was agreed by members of the executive.

Councillor Don Mackenzie said there had been a lot of representations from members of the public, traders and churchgoers who asked for a 12.30pm start on the parking charges.

“This is not about filling the county council’s coffers, this is about traffic management in Harrogate. The borough council have invested huge sums of taxpayers money building off street car parks, on Sunday’s it is 70 per cent empty. Cars are cruising around looking for free on street parking."

Harrogate councillor David Simister added: "This is not about freeing up spaces this is about revenue generation. I don’t know why you bothered with a public consultation, it was a fait accompli.

"How many members of the public, traders and churchgoers supported this tax? No-one.”

Businessman Mike Pywall said: "Harrogate is a very precious place we should be encouraging it to thrive. We want to get people to come to Harrogate to enjoy it.

"You should not be bringing in these charges, we should be saying come to Harrogate parking is free, I would have liked to have seen some imagination.”