CAMPAIGNERS have said they were left feeling 'humiliated, insulted and belittled' that they were asked to apologise for a petition over car parking charge hikes.

The petition, which gained more than 1,000 signatures, was presented to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council (WPBC) on Thursday night.

But Cllr Ian Bruce said those behind it should say sorry because news reports on the petition made the borough look bad to the 'whole of the world'.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Bruce said Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce (WPCC) had 'misled' people.

He said: “We put the price down in a particular area but to try to see if people would stay longer but it seemingly did not work.

“In this town we have free one hour parking in all streets. We are in competition with a multi-storey car park.

“The chamber needs to come and get involved with the council. They put out a petition that misled the public about what goes on in this town.”

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Bruce said: “I asked her [WPCC president Michelle Hind] to apologise for having the BBC having as headline news for the whole of the morning telling everybody how expensive it was to park in Weymouth, which simply is not true.”

Mrs Hind said she felt that at the meeting 'personal attacks' were made and that it was 'awful.'

“Ian Bruce said that he think that the chamber should apologise about putting in the petition," she said.

“This is about working together, not personal attacks.”

Cllr Ray Nowak had said the chamber was 'not getting it' and that the price hike had been done to safeguard the town's future.

Afterwards he said an email had been sent to the chamber to arrange another meeting about the issues.

Yesterday, several people present at the meeting took to social media to air their views.

Cllr James Farquharson sent WPCC member Julie Cleaver a message that read: 'I thought the tone towards your group tonight was deeply disrespectful - I'm sorry for that.'

Mrs Cleaver told the Echo the group was 'shocked' and added: "It's just one of those situations where we try to do good for the community and businesses and we get the door slammed in our face by the council."

On Twitter, she described the group as feeling 'humiliated, insulted and belittled.'

The petition has been sent to Policy Development Committee for discussion.

As reported in the Echo, the council increased parking charges by up to 40 per cent in some areas to offset a shortfall. 
The chamber of commerce launched a petition with the support of Weymouth BID hoping to reverse the decision.
It comes amid new government legislation which enables residents and local firms to demand their council reviews parking in their area, including charges. The measures say councils should not use parking for profit.