Thanet District Council could be preparing for a U-turn on the rise in April of car parking costs across the district.

The increased costs which were introduced on April 1 saw big rises for a number of car parks across Thanet , with an hour increasing from £1.70 to £4 for Joss Bay car park and Dreamland’s car park rising from £1.60 to £4.

It was one of the measures brought in by Thanet council to balance the books.

Council leader Cllr Chris Wells released a statement today, which says: “The Overview and Scrutiny Panel recently made recommendations following a petition of 829 signatures on increases to summer parking charges in five car parks.

"They considered a proposal from officers to introduce a compromise position which would lower the charge for the first hour as this had generated such a strong public response.

"Cabinet will be meeting shortly to reconsider this matter in light of these discussions and to consider the officer recommendation.

"This will fall outside of the regular meeting schedule and a special cabinet meeting is currently being agreed."

Speaking at the time the new charges were introduced, the council’s acting head of operational services, Trevor Kennett, said:”The changes were the outcome of an extensive review of parking provision across the district, which assessed demand during seasonal periods."