Haslemere residents face the steepest parking charge increases in Waverley, with town centre car park fees set to rise by up to 82 per cent over five years.

Cllr Zoe Barker-Lomax has condemned the borough council’s latest round of hikes, warning they will drive shoppers away and hurt already struggling high street businesses.

“I do not see how we can in all conscience foist this upon our constituents,” she said.

The steepest rise this year hits short-stay drivers. From May 12, Haslemere’s High Street car park behind Waitrose will increase one-hour parking from £1.20 to £1.30, and two hours from £2.40 to £2.60. Three-hour parking will drop slightly from £4 to £3.90.

At Tanners Lane car park, charges will rise from 90p to £1 for one hour and £1.80 to £2 for two hours. Three-hour stays will fall from £3.10 to £2.90. Identical changes apply at Chestnut Avenue and Weydown Road car parks.

This follows an 18 per cent increase last year. Parking revenue across Waverley is expected to jump from £5.9 million to £6.5 million.

Haslemere resident Hannah Sutton said: “I don’t know how they can justify it. There’s no real free parking in Haslemere. I know it’s an affluent area but not everyone is affluent.”

“The evening charge at the High Street car park is a massive hit,” said Ben Dibble, another local. “If I go five minutes past 6.30pm I have to pay basically the same again. Where is this money going?”

Julie MacArthur added: “It’s a real shame. This will force people to shop further afield and we’ll end up with no shops, which was one of the main attractions of moving here.”

Haslemere Conservatives are calling for a cap on increases in line with inflation and two free Saturdays a month to support shops.