BUSINESS leaders have made a desperate eleventh hour plea for transport chiefs to make a u-turn on controversial plans forcing motorists to pay to park in Southampton city centre until midnight.

Southampton City Council's cabinet is tonight poised to rubberstamp its scheme to extend pay and display into the evenings in the city's streets and council-run car parks.

The levy is part of a bid to claw back £200,000 in the wake of savage £16m budget cuts - the worst in the authority's history.

But furious restaurants and theatres at the heart of the city's entertainment industry are dubbing it a “tax” on the night-time economy which they say will decimate trade and the city's social life at a time when they are already battling against the economic crisis.

The Hampshire Chamber of Commerce was at the forefront of a petition demanding the council put the brakes on the scheme.

Chamber chief executive Jimmy Chestnutt said: “This measure will seriously damage the evening economy and the main attractions like the Mayflower Theatre and planned Watermark WestQuay new leisure and dining destination.

“It will undermine the council's efforts to promote the emerging Cultural Quarter in the city and be the equivalent to a local tax on a family's evening leisure and cultural activities.

He also said it will make it unsafe for bar and restaurant staff - especially women - who will be forced to park further away and walk to work to avoid the charges.

He also said it will squeeze parking spaces for city centre residents returning home to park their cars after work.

But the council argues it will bring it into line with other south coast towns which already charge for people to park in the evenings.

It wants to press ahead with plans to introduce charges of £2 up to 8pm on on-street car parking bays and £2 from 6pm to midnight in city centre car parks.

Multi-storey car parks which already charge in the evening will not be affected. But Amanda Angora who co-owns Buffallo Bills restaurant in Commercial Road said: “It's going to have a big impact if people have to pay.

“It's very unfair - the council already gets enough money from parking and I don't know why they want another surcharge.”

As part of the overhaul, the authority has announced plans to reduce overnight annual car park season tickets from £250 to £150, and extend the maximum period of stay during charging hours in the central red parking area to two hours. If the approved the new system will be introduced in October.