The doubling of parking charges along Yarmouth seafront just as the holiday season starts will cause trippers to drive to other resorts instead, the town's MP claimed last night.

The doubling of parking charges along Yarmouth seafront just as the holiday season starts will cause trippers to drive to other resorts instead, the town's MP claimed last night.

Tony Wright said the decision to raise the fees at five short-stay car parks from Friday would lead to a slump in visitor numbers.

Yarmouth Borough Council is to put up the current charge of �1 an hour to �1.50 an hour and then �2 per hour after two hours.

It is feared the new fees at the Euston, Empire, Jetty north and south and Marina sites will put off people who leave their vehicles there as they visit tearooms and take a stroll along the promenade.

The council says it is introducing the new fees to encourage people who stay longer than an hour to use the town's cheaper long-stay car parks several hundred metres from the resort's centre.