Cornwall Council needs to ’wake up’, says a town forum, and realise that the demise of the high street is worsened by car parking tariffs.

At Liskeard Town Forum, members were discussing a proposed raise in fees charged at Cornwall Council-run car parks around the county.

The local authority wants to raise an extra £300,000 from its car parks in order to cover maintenance costs. Under the plans it has set out, charges would go up by 1.5 percent from April, and these would be rounded up to the nearest 10 pence.

Cornwall Council says it is keeping the increase to the absolute minimum necessary for maintenance and repair.

But members and attendees at the Forum were strongly against the proposals, citing parking charges in the town centre as off-putting to visitors and shoppers.

A suggestion was made that Liskeard Town Council could take on the management of the car parks as Lostwithiel has done.

The public is being asked for their views on the proposed rises and the consultation will run until February 20.