IT IS just what we need to cheer us all up: a rise in the cost of parking. The city council is proposing across-the-board increases in parking charges – whether it is outside your own home, or in city centre car parks.

ResPark permits would go up from £90 to £93 under the proposals, with larger increases for households with more than one car.

The cost of a monthly ticket for a council car park will rise ten per cent, from £40 to £44 a week, if the proposals go through. And even residents with Minster badges would see a rise in the cost of using council car parks – with the increase being greater the longer you park.

The council proposals come at the same time that the city’s transport budget has been hit by the Government’s scheme to give concessionary travel to pensioners. That has left the authority with a £375,000 gap in next year’s budget.

The council’s transport boss Steve Galloway said ResPark fees for residents with “small, environmentally friendly vehicles” would be frozen. Other fees would rise in line with inflation, he said.

The amount that motorists will be out of pocket if the rises do go through isn’t that much.

But it all adds up. And, at a time when we are all struggling anyway, it is the last thing most of us need.

The council might argue the measures are green, because they will encourage fewer people to drive into the city centre.

Traders and city centre businesses are likely to counter that will mean fewer customers.

There is at least a silver lining. The number of parking tickets issued last year fell by a quarter after traffic wardens were told to be kinder.

They are now no longer punishing motorists for relatively minor offences, such as parking with a wheel over the edge of a bay.