Parking permits for those who live and work in Keswick should be slashed from £300 to £100 according to a town councillor.

Graham Kendall says standard charges are too high for locals who contributed towards the £1.2m raised in parking fees raised in the town last year.

That figure makes up the bulk of the £2m collected in parking fees throughout Allerdale.

He suggests that hourly rates for parking could rise to cover the cost of reducing the permits for locals.

Together with fellow town councillor Tony Lywood, Mr Kendall wants to see a complete overhaul of parking provision in the town.

The councillor made the demands after lodging a Freedom of Information request on how much money Allerdale Borough Council earned from car parking permits.

The cost of a permit in Keswick is £300 per year, compared to £250 in Workington, £240 in Cockermouth, £170 in Wigton and £100 in Maryport.

Discount permits for those on low income cost £35 for three months, or £70 for six.

Mr Kendall said: “As a starting point we should review all local parking permit costs so that includes the resident and commercial ones as well as the low income ones.

“If you consider that Keswick contributes about 60 per cent of all of Allerdale’s car parking fees, it is important that Keswick residents and workers benefit from that as well as the rest of the Borough.

“A fair way to do that would be to reduce Keswick parking permit costs.

“If we’re is smart about it, this could be done while increasing the total revenue to Allerdale because the amount of money raised by permits is a tiny fraction of the overall income paid by visitors.

“A few pence increase on the hourly rate paid at the meters, or a restructuring to allow an extra hour’s stay would, if structured correctly, outweigh any reductions in revenue from reducing the cost of permits.

“It would also have the added benefit of reducing the pressure on street parking around B&Bs.”

Mr Kendall suggests allowing motorists to park for an extra third hour to increase income – which would also encourage them to spend more time shopping and visiting restaurants, bars and cafes in the town.

“It’s also possible that better signage could increase the rate of parking which again would increase revenue,” he added.

“It should be a win-win situation, but we need the data from Allerdale to be able to figure out what would work.”

Mr Lywood, who is also an Allerdale councillor, has already met borough council leader Alan Smith to discuss the situation and further talks are planned.

Mr Kendall said the town council, borough council and county authority all need to get together to discuss parking in the town.

He added: “I’m pretty convinced by the information we have and the general chaos in the town that a few simple changes could have a really big impact and improve things for people.

“Everything should be up for discussion. Permits generally should be low, but Keswick is different from the rest of the borough because of the amount of income it generates.”