A WINCHESTER woman has criticised the new city centre parking charges introduced by the council.

Olive Bramley, of Northbrook, Micheldever, complained after she paid both an overnight charge and Sunday charge to leave her car in Colebrook Street car park on a Sunday morning to attend a service at Winchester Cathedral.

Mrs Bramley said she was contacted by the city council, who confirmed that she was overcharged and was offered a refund and free parking, which she declined.

The 74-year-old, a retired chef at Winchester College, said: “I don’t need them to give me free parking, because what about all the other people who they’ve taken money off? So, it’s no good giving me free parking – what about everybody else as well?

READ MORE: Letter: 'The council is ruining Winchester' with its Sunday parking charges

“They’ve admitted they’ve made a mistake, but they need to then contact everybody else that they’ve taken the money off of.”

Mrs Bramley is among many elderly people who attend services at the cathedral.

Following Chronicle coverage of the issue last month the national press have recently picked up the story.

Mrs Bramley said that she believes that the council should return to the old tariff.

She continued: “They are saying it's all to do with their help towards going against global warming which I understand, and I support that completely. But it is cheaper now for my husband to drive me eight miles into Winchester, for him to go back home and then come into Winchester again and bring me home. It is cheaper for him to buy the diesel than it is for me to pay the parking charges.

“So, they are actually defeating what they are trying to achieve because we are doing twice the emissions now.

“They need to stop the overnight parking charges – we can all then go in and do what we’re doing. If it has to have an all day Sunday parking I can understand that, and when they brought that in I paid £2.10 for an hours parking, but it was from 8am. What shops are open from 8am? So it’s not just about going to church, it’s about going into the city because we need to support shops and restaurants.”

SEE ALSO: 'We are extremely disappointed' - Church slams decision to increase parking charges

In a letter to the Chronicle Cllr Kelsie Learney said: “We recognize our signs could give the wrong impression, but the Council does not charge both an overnight charge and a day time charge for parking sessions that cross both periods. If part of your parking session includes a day time charge, you won’t be charged for the overnight charge as well. The parking machines and the RingGo pay by phone system have the correct information.

“We will be reviewing the signage in our car parks and contacting Mrs Bramley to give a full refund.”

The council argues that the increased charges are needed to help tackle the climate crisis.

A Winchester City Council spokesperson said: "When we read the original letter from Mrs Bramley in the Hampshire Chronicle, officers contacted Mrs Bramley to apologise that she was given the wrong information when she originally contacted the council. 

"In that conversation, it was established that Mrs Bramley didn't pay both parking charges, so no refund was necessary. 

"We have since double-checked this and our machines DO NOT charge both an overnight and a daytime charge. The £2.10 charge referred to in the article is the old charge before changes were made. In fact, the fee for the time period in question is now £1.80 - cheaper than before."

Winchester Cathedral declined to comment about the impact on its congregation.

An e-petition has been launched calling for the overnight parking charges to be scrapped. It can be found on the city council website. It has attracted 414 names. It runs until September 24.