Parking charges are being introduced along eight Brighouse town centre roads within weeks.

Amid criticism and a petition signed by 2,500 people opposing the move, Calderdale Council will bring in the fees in June.

The areas where parking meters are being installed and fees will apply are Bethel Street, Bradford Road (the town centre section), Briggate, Commercial Street, Gooder Street, King Street, Market Street and Park Street.

The pay and display parking bays will be in operation Monday – Saturday between 8am and 6pm.

During that time there will be a charge of 20p per half an hour, after the initial first 30 minutes being free. All vehicles will need to get a ticket and there will be a maximum stay of one hour and anyone wanting to shop for longer would have to park elsewhere.

Clr Scott Benton, Brighouse Conservative and party leader, said: “Residents, traders and the Brighouse and Rastrick councillors have consistently opposed the introduction of on-street parking charges in the town centre due to the concerns that we have about the impact that this may have upon our local economy.

“The current situation with free on-street parking in Brighouse works perfectly well as there is a frequent turn-around of vehicles with spaces available for people to park up to do their shopping.

Brighouse Conservative councillor Scott Benton

“The charges will raise a relatively small amount of money and due to the large outlay of purchasing the meters will take the council a long time to break even.

“We are bitterly disappointed that once again the council has not listened to local traders and businesses in Brighouse and has imposed these charges in spite of the significant local opposition, including a petition signed by over 2,500 people.

“What makes matters worse is that the Labour Cabinet have cynically delayed the introduction of the charges, which were approved 18 months ago, until a few weeks after the local elections so that they don’t lose support.

“We will be working with the traders to monitor the impact of the charges closely and will continue to fight these if they impact upon trade, as we suspect.”

Among the fears will be that shoppers will avoid going into Brighouse town centre and just visit the supermarkets on the edge of the town to avoid getting a ticket.

Shoppers say they often pop in and out of the town centre, that a time limit may be too restrictive and fears the price will rise in the future.

Calderdale Council has been approached for a comment.