POOLE council is seemingly trying to "kill" the town centre, according to a councillor.

Mark Howell made the comment at a meeting on Tuesday evening as the borough cabinet approved the introduction of increased parking charges around the town.

However, members said that over the past five years the borough has only increased its charges by 3.8 per cent, compared with a national average of 34 per cent.

Addressing the meeting, Cllr Howell said: "It is a desperate state now in the High Street.

"We have seen businesses like Burger King and McDonalds closed. Why are people going to go to the High Street?"

He said the council had a parking charge surplus of £2.5 million, while authorities with similarly-sized populations had surpluses of only £226,000.

"It seems like this council is just trying to kill the town centre," he added.

Also attending was Broadstone councillor Mike Brooke, who said residents and shopkeepers in the village believed the new charges were "unjustifiable and outrageous" and "bear no relationship to the local retail and business offer".

Cllr Drew Mellor, cabinet member for transportation, said the council was working to regenerate the town centre, citing a recent £3.2m investment in the Dolphin Centre car park.

"I am very proud that this has attracted £16m of private investment into the Dolphin Centre," he said.

He said the new charges "are still going to be significantly less than the national average", as well as neighbouring councils.

The council expects to raise £873,821 from the new charges in the next financial year,

Cllr May Haines said Poole should not be compared with other areas on population as it was a "holiday destination" and attracted many tourists.

The new charges, to be introduced in April, are £1 per hour in town centre and district car parks with no reduced Sunday rate, a new overnight charge in the town centre and at beaches and new peak season beach charges (excluding the Beach Road car park).

District car park season tickets will also be increased, but 30 minutes free on-road parking will be retained.