THE cost of on-street parking in Oxford will soon go up for the first time in four years.

Changes that will be enforced from next month mean an hour’s parking in the county council’s premium on-street spaces will be hiked by up to 50 per cent.

Motorists staying for up to an hour between 8am and 6.30pm from Sunday to Friday will pay a third more than they previously have in Oxford’s inner zone.

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The council said the changes were part of a drive to improve air quality, cut congestion and charge prices similar to those in the city council’s car parks.

To increase use of the city’s park and rides, it will soon be cheaper to stay at the county council’s Oxford Parkway and Thornhill sites.

Motorists will also be able to use the city and county councils’ park and ride sites interchangeably regardless of where they bought their pass.

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Broad Street, part of the zone where charges are going up.

Rikke Hansen, the county council’s head of integration and improvement, said: “Traffic, congestion and parking are big issues for Oxford and the county and city council work together very closely to try to improve matters where we can.

“Proactive and responsible management of the roads and parking are positive features of any city.

“By bringing our parking charges more into line with those for off-street car parks we are doing our bit to encourage more sustainable travel while making sure that city centre parking is available for those who really want or need it.”

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Blue badge holders will still be able to use them regardless of the changes.

In Zone 1, which includes 16 city centre streets, parking for an hour will increase by a third – from £3 to £4. Parking for two hours will rise from £5 to £6.

Zone 1 includes St Giles’, Mansfield Road, Woodstock Road and Longwall, Merton and Broad Streets.

Parking in them on Saturdays for an hour will soon be 50 per cent more expensive. The fee will be increased from £3 to £4.50 on April 8.

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Woodstock Road is also part of Zone 1.

Parishioners of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in St Giles recently said they were opposed to the ‘exorbitant’ charges.

But no one attended a meeting at which Yvonne Constance, the council’s cabinet member for environment, passed the plan yesterday.

Council officers had said they did not want to offer the church special dispensation for fear it would need to do the same for all religious buildings across the county.

All 30-minute parking bands will be scrapped.

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But new charges will be introduced for outer city sites in the council’s Zone 2. Parking there, including Walton Street, Jericho will cost £3 in the evening.

Some charges in the city council’s car parks will increase from Monday.

Not all of them cost the same but Gloucester Green and Worcester Street will both have the same charges. Parking there for between four and six hours at weekends will cost £20.