“SKY-HIGH” seafront parking charges will be reviewed by Southend Council after traders pressed for prices to be brought in-line with the city centre.

Businesses have raised concerns that prices on the seafront are “putting customers off visiting” and called for a re-think of charges.

Now, Tory councillor responsible for highways, Kevin Buck, has revealed Southend Council will consider all parking charges, but admitted seafront parking will not be as cheap as the high street because of the “premium location”.

Mr Buck said: “The seafront is always going to be considered a more premium parking area but it’s how we can narrow the gaps between them and the high street. We’re not looking into bringing seafront charges in-line with the High Street at the moment. But we are looking at various options on closing the gap between zone one, which is the seafront, and the other zones as a whole.”

The traders’ calls come after the city was named and shamed in the Telegraph for a 67 per cent increase in the most expensive parking spots in the city - although Tony Cox, council leader, insisted these figures were collated before unpopular parking charges between 6pm and 9pm were scrapped.

As things stand, to park in the seafront for up to ten hours, costs £19.30 compared to in the city centre at £13.20. Parking for one hour on the seafront comes to £2.80, which is more than double the price of parking on the high street - which is £1.20.

Philip Miller, chief executive of Adventure Island and owner of Stockvale group, said: “Why should the seafront be overcharged in comparison? The High Street receives a big spin-off from the seafront visitors.

“Rip off charges put customers off, no doubt about it. The Labour Liberal coalition never really got to grips with that simple fact. They also forgot that a big chunk of our customer base is local, They tell me it costs more to park than to visit us at times.”

As well as the review of parking, Southend’s Tory administration is aiming to bring in 448 additional car parking spaces along the seafront by next Easter. This has the potential to generate more than £500,000 in additional income.

Owner of Pebbles One cafe on the Southend seafront, Paul Thompson said: “I think the parking charges have been a real blow to people. If you’re a city, it should be a uniform charge across the city. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the seafront.”