Drivers fear being priced out of town centres by rising parking charges and changes to public transport, the AA is warning.

As town centre trade attempts to recover after the pandemic, the motoring organisation is cautioning against councils increasing parking fees as part of attempts to balance their books this year.

With local authorities working hard to set their budgets for the upcoming financial year, the AA says it is concerned that "aggressive hikes" in parking fees and public transport fares will simply choke off much needed local trade in high streets by making life considerably more expensive for drivers at a time when the cost of living is on the rise.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “It is no secret that local council funding is stretched, yet drivers feel they will be targeted as councils try to balance the books.

“There is little surprise that parking fees and charges are an easy target for councils to increase in an effort to raise funds. However, as local economies look to bounce back from the pandemic we are concerned that people could be priced out of their town centre and keep shopping online.”

In Kent, Canterbury City Council has already confirmed plans to raise parking charges in its sites across the district, insisting that the additional revenue from parking - which makes up more than 25% of the council's income - will help plug its £5million deficit.

It has also revealed plans to close its Sturry Road park and ride site because of a drastic fall in passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic that has made the service too costly to run.

Maidstone is also set to lose its park and ride service this year after the council turned down a request from Arriva bus company for an additional subsidy to run the service that had seen passenger numbers plummet during Covid to the extent that it was no longer viable.

The AA has also been among organisations to express some concern in recent weeks at powers being brought in this summer that will allow local authorities to fine drivers up to £70 for moving traffic offences, illegal actions that at the moment only police have the powers to tackle.

With adults facing significant demand on their monthly incomes the AA said a recent survey of almost 14,000 of its members suggested drivers are not very optimistic that life for motorists is about to get any easier - or cheaper.

A third of drivers spoken to said they expected their local council to cut back spending on things like road drainage clearing together with almost 60% gearing up for an increase in the cost of both short and long stay car parks they use. While just a quarter of those surveyed said they expected authorities to increase road maintenance budgets - devoting more money to fixing problems such as pot holes in the coming year.

Jack Cousens continued: “Arguably, the local road network is biggest, most important asset a council owns, but years of underinvestment means it has cracked and crumbled. We hope those who believe their council will increase the pothole and road maintenance funds are proved right, but we worry their hopes will be crushed in the coming weeks.

“We desperately need more funding from both central and local government in order to produce safer, smoother travel however people use the road.”