PLANS by a national car park company to charge up to £200 a year to users of Petersfield Hospital car park has led to calls for a parking consultation in the town.

From Tuesday, May 3, National Car Parks (NCP) management company will be running the car park at the hospital in Swan Street.

Residents have been told the move is aimed at “discouraging long term parking, which has been identified as a problem.”

People living nearby who used to park there on evenings and weekends for free, have been offered one car parking permit for the same times at a cost of £208.

Resident Kath Trigg (43) lives opposite the hospital and said: “There is only a handful of houses in our row, and we have always parked in there overnight and weekends. If the car park is congested at those times, we wouldn’t be offered permit car parking spaces.

“If it was a 24-hour-a-day hospital like the Queen Alexandra in Portsmouth I could understand it.

“But it isn’t – it’s an attempt to introduce a big city solution to a non-existent country town matter.”

The IT consultant and her neighbours have taken advice from East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds about the NCP proposal.

She said: “We will also be seeing our town councillor to see if he can do anything.

“Parking in Petersfield is a real issue, and will get worse as more houses are built, and it needs to be revisited with a public consultation.”

NCP say the new charges, £1 an hour for up to five hours, then £10, will be in force all day, seven-days-a-week.

Parking wardens will also patrol the car park every day.

Head of South Coast Operations Mark Kraft has told residents that money generated through parking fines will go to local charities.

He added he was happy to discuss the issue with them.

To contact Mr Kraft, e-mail [email protected]