Dorset Council has announced an increase to the cost of parking in Council owned car parks. 

The Council says this increase will be limited to "busy tourist areas" to try to limit the impact on residents.

Meanwhile, there will be no increase in the cost of on-street parking permits for residents, and short-stay and flexi-park permit prices will remain the same.

Prices will be increased in Weymouth car parks such as Weymouth Beach, Melcombe Regis, Overcombe, Lodmoor and the Pavilion car parks.

It is a price increase of 50% in these car parks.

Car park charges in these areas were previously £1 for up to 30 mins, £2 for up to an hour, and £3 for up three hours.

After the increase, charges are now £1.50 for up to 30 mins, £3 for up to an hour, and £4.50 for up to three hours.

On-street charges will increase at the Esplanade, Westham Bridge, Pilgrims Way, Alexandra Gardens, Trinity Road and Custom House Quay.

A full list of new rates can be found on the Dorset Council website.

New multi-day tickets will enable holidaymakers to buy one ticket that can cover the whole of their stay, rather than having to purchase a new ticket every day.

And a new three-hour option will be available in short-stay car parks that were previously limited to two hours.

Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council's portfolio holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “We have designed the tariff increases so they have the least impact on Dorset residents and workers, while bringing in extra income to help us meet the rising costs of running our parking service and maintaining our car parks.

“The increases are limited to those car parks mainly used by visitors to the area, and encourage people to stay longer to enjoy all Dorset has to offer. They also continue to provide good value for money; when setting the new prices, we ran a comparison with charges in neighbouring areas and similar visitor destinations and our car parks are still some of the cheapest.

The Council has also committed to replacing all on-street pay and display machines across the county by Summer of 2023.

The new machines provide customers with more payment options, including cash, card, Apple Pay and Google Pay and online app. Wi-Fi will also be improved in car parks with poor phone signals.