Hospital staff must now pay £10 a day to park after a pandemic charge freeze ended.

A campaign to stop Darent Valley Hospital withdrawing free parking for all its staff has been backed by almost 1,500 supporters.

A change in the rules now means staff without a permit are forced to park around nearby streets or pay £10 per day for a space at the hospital.

But a campaign launched by Laura Flood is calling for the rule to be reverted, to "help those who have saved endless lives during this pandemic."

And the online drive is gaining support having been signed by 1,487 supporters, as of Wednesday afternoon.

Laura writes: "Our nurses are loved by this nation, they are the true angels that regardless of the day or time are there to save lives. Each day they go to work not knowing what they're going to face and continue to care for all those around them.

"The staff at Darent Valley Hospital and across the UK have worked tireless shifts to save this country and the people within it. The bravery and courage of every staff member amaze me, having been admitted to Darent Valley myself I am in total awe and truly believe we couldn't be in safer hands. I want to show my appreciation to all the NHS staff by highlighting how fundamental it is to offer free parking at DVH.

She added: "Over the last 12 months, staff at DVH have been flooded with gifts from the local area, please sign this petition to show your continued support for the staff and prove to the NHS Trust and others how vital it is to provide free car parking for all members of staff at DVH."

Many supporters also commented on the petition to give their reasons for backing the call.

One noted: "I'm signing this petition as I feel its unfair the nurses have to pay for parking out of their wages. They do a fantastic job and get a very poor pay rise. Also look at the times they start and leave the hospital, it's dark very often. It's not safe for them to be walking miles to their cars, risking being attacked. It's also unfair to the residents whose housing they park outside of, when they come home and have nowhere to park."

Another added: "I have to walk in the dark to my car and back and it’s not safe or fair!"

A message to staff reportedly seen by The Mirror states: “The Visitor Car Parks will revert to visitor only parking.

“Staff parking in these will have to pay the full amount for the duration of their stay.”

It continued: “We know this will be an unpopular change for many of our staff and regret the inconvenience this may cause but we cannot see any alternative.”

An official statement from Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust said: "As was the case before the pandemic, there is insufficient space on the Darent Valley site to allow for all staff to have a permit to park.

"During the pandemic and since the number of patients attending the hospital had reduced, some patient car parking was freed up to allow more staff to park on site.

"During the pandemic and in line with national policy we have not been charging staff to park in those designated staff car parking areas. This continues to be the case.

"As we have emerged from the pandemic and more patients have started to attend the emergency department and for their outpatient appointment and we have relaxed visiting restrictions it became apparent looking at the traffic congestion on site that we reluctantly needed to go back to the permit system.

"Since we moved back to the permit system and as part of an on-going review a further 110 permits have been released to front line staff to allow them to park. For clarity, no permit holder has been asked to pay for their permit to park in line with national policy."

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