New Forest residents are being asked to dip into their pockets yet again to pay for parking.

Members of New Forest District Council's executive voted to increase the cost of the parking clock system from £5 a year to £6.

Councillors were advised to put up the price to create money to fund the coun-cil's decriminalised parking scheme.

Opposition leader Maureen Robinson urged the Cabinet to reject the price hikes.

The leader of the New Forest Liberal Democrats said the council had promised not to raise the price when the scheme was introduced last year.

She suggested tourists should bear the extra cost of the scheme, which will see the council adopt the role of traffic warden.

She said: "They should not put up their clock to £6. They should appeal if necessary. People accepted the £5 charge on the basis it wasn't going to go up again unnecessarily.

"If there's a need to raise income they should do that by extending car parking charges through the parking machines on Sundays and bank holidays.

"Residents should be entitled to a free clock without any extra charge."

Michael Thierry, portfolio holder for the environment, said: "The cabinet approved exactly what is included in the paper. The Liberal Democrats wanted us not to increase the charge at all and to stay at £5 but the reason for it going to £6 is to do with the decriminalised parking scheme because we're going to take on the role of traffic warden."

He said there were benefits to the council of taking over responsibility for dealing with certain problems such as abandoned vehicles but funding had to come from somewhere.