Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has been slated for charging visitors to park at the Children in Need extravaganza.

Weymouth’s Sea Life Park in Lodmoor hosted Children in Need’s official fundraising party for the South West, including a live telethon broadcast nationally on BBC.

But the council is now being asked to justify why it still charged motorists to park in the nearby Lodmoor car park and has been called on to donate the money back to Children in Need.

Iain Hawkins, of Merlin Entertainments Group which owns Sewa Life, said Weymouth and Portland Borough Council could now make amends by donating the parking fees it gathered on Friday evening back to the charity fund.

Mr Hawkins, who used to manage Weymouth’s Sea Life Park, said: “I understand that the parking charges are important and necessary for the upkeep of the borough but surely when provided with the opportunity to support the Sea Life Park’s bid to put Weymouth on the map, there should have been a little more support from the council?

“I am sure that the council do not want to be tarred with a ‘scrooge’ tag.”

Mr Hawkins went on to suggest that the council should donate all the money it made from parking charges on Friday evening to Children in Need.

Also critical of the council for charging motorists to park at Lodmoor was Rodwell resident Sue Mason.

She said: “I was appalled to discover that on this charity night the council was still insisting on visitors paying to use the car park.

“Not only that, but the warden was in attendance making sure that everybody was paying.

“How can the council justify making a profit from a charity event?

“This behaviour is disgraceful and I am sure I’m not alone in calling for the council to donate the evening’s car park takings back to where they belong – the Children in Need fund.”

Mr Hawkins added: “It was just a bit of a poor show from the council really.

“The Sea Life Centre as a company donated more than £3,000 towards the Children in Need.

“The place was packed with around 1,500 people having a great time and showing their support.

“For them to be told that they still had to pay for parking was a crying shame.

“I think it’s left a bit of a bitter taste in people’s mouths over the whole event.”

Despite numerous calls from the Dorset Echo, no one from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council was available to comment.