SUNDAY parking charges will be introduced in Fife Council car parks in the new year.

The controversial move, opposed by a number of groups and churches, was approved by the executive committee today.

Depute leader of Fife Council, Councillor Lesley Laird, said: “With Sunday trading now commonplace, demand for parking within our town centres on Sundays is generally like any other day of the week and we need to find ways to manage the demand."

Councillors were given three options: to bring in charges all day; introduce charges but not until 1pm; or keep the status quo.

With a huge hole in their budget to fill, unpopular decisions are having to be contemplated but a compromise of sorts was reached.

Charges at metered on-street and off-street parking places on Sundays will start after 1pm, which should mean many churchgoers won't have to pay.

The council had stated that charging all day would bring in around £200,000 a year, while charges from 1pm would bring in around £100,000 per annum.

Cllr Laird said: "With the ongoing significant budget challenges facing all local authorities, potentially up to £40 million of cuts this year for Fife, we are one of the few councils that hadn’t already introduced parking charges on Sundays and as a council we signed up for this when we approved our budget decisions back in February.

“Parking charges in Fife compare very favourably with neighbouring authorities and in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy, the private car park operators associated with the shopping centres already charge all day on Sundays.

“More broadly, we recognise the challenges all our towns are facing and that different solutions maybe required."

She continued: "A good example of this is the parking pilot in Kirkcaldy which was developed by the BID company and area committee as a response to the withdrawal of Tesco and more recently BHS from the town centre.

"It is being funded through a £60,000 contribution from the area committee budget and will run as a pilot for 12 months.

"Discussions have also begun with Dunfermline and St Andrew’s BID companies to look at a range of parking suggestions that they have made and which may be appropriate for future consideration and at their local area committees."