LOCALS have slammed plans to install parking meters that would see them forced to pay £70 to park outside their homes.
Residents of Sea Cliff, Bournemouth, slammed the local authority after the plans were announced.
The meters would be installed along roads within 0.6 miles of the seafront with residents living in beachside properties offered permits for £70.
Plans were revealed after a spree of parking incidents saw tourists leave cars on grass verges, pavements and roundabouts in what was described as “Wild West” parking.
Local council officials have claimed that the money generated by the new parking meters will be used to pay for tow trucks to remove illegally parked cars.
Most streets in the town currently have paid parking with motorists forced to cough up some cash to leave their cars in the town centre.
Residential areas of Sea Cliff have free parking at present but the new plans would put an end to this.
Furious locals accused the council of hypocrisy after it sold off two seafront car parks.
Residents of the small town were again left furious after the local authority previously caused mayhem with extensive roadworks.
Laying nearly 50 miles of cycle lanes in the area the council tried to make travel in the town more sustainable.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pool Council has declared a climate emergency with locals in Sea Cliff slamming them for “attacking” motorists.
Now plans for the new parking meters have caused even more outrage.
The scheme has been branded “stupid” by Peter Schroeder, the chairman of the Branksome Park Residents Association.
He told The Telegraph: “This proposal comes from the same council that is selling off key car parks. It is hypocrisy.
“We say no to residents paying to park their own cars on their own streets.
“We already have some of the highest council tax charges in the area.
“Charging residents and their guests and tradespeople doing work in houses and flats is a stupid idea.
“The council should give much stiffer penalties to those who do illegally park. £50 is probably nothing to them. If it was £1,000 they would think twice.”
The parking meter proposal is due to undergo public consultation before a decision is made on it.
The council has said that more than 10 million visitors come to the seafront annually.
Last weekend alone there were more than 1,000 tickets handed out to illegally parked cars in Bournemouth.
The Sun has contacted Bournemouth Christchurch and Pool Council for comment.