OPPOSITION leaders in Winchester are calling for more clarity over plans to double the cost of residents' parking permits in the city.

Proposed new charges, announced by parking chiefs, could see thousands of residents hit with a massive hike in the cost of parking outside their own homes.

The scheme, which will be voted on by Winchester city councillors today, would see the cost of residents' parking permits increase from £15 to £25 for the first one, with further permits, such as visitor ones, charged at £50 each.

The council's head of parking says the change is needed to cover the cost of issuing and policing the permit scheme.

However opposition councillors say the move seems to be another attempt to get more cash from taxpayers and are asking for the reasons behind the increases to be made clear.

In a report to be presented to WCC's environment and access performance improvement committee, members will be told that the increases are needed to make the scheme cost neutral to the authority.

The report states that it actually costs the council £15 to issue a permit and deal with enquiries and a further £25 per permit to police the scheme with traffic wardens - a total cost of £40.

Councillor Richard Knasel, the ruling Liberal Democrats' head of transport, told the Daily Echo last week that the proposed increases would ensure the scheme is self-funding in the future.

Along with increases to residents' permits, businesses would also be hit by rises from £30 to £50 and from £200 to £300, while guest house permits would go up from £15 to £25 and amenity permits, for organisations like charities, would rise from £10 to £15.

The report also reveals how last year the council made more than £3.8m from parking charges and fines, with outgoings of just £3.4m, leading to a total profit of £371,033 which was transferred to the authority's coffers.

Councillor Patrick Davies, Labour group leader, said: "Firstly we need to look at why we are making the increases. Why is this scheme renewed annually? Surely it costs more in administration to redo these permits every year, and if we only renewed them when it was necessary, couldn't we save money that way to offset the increases?

"I also want to see really accurate figures as to what costs what in relation to running the scheme."

Councillor George Beckett, Conservative spokesman for transport, added: "We will be asking for certain ideas to be investigated to get the scheme running at a cheaper cost for residents, and will also be seeking clarification on some of the details in the report."

If the increases are approved at today's meeting, a final decision will rest with WCC's Cabinet later this month.