A Renfrewshire councillor has said they are "appalled" at the cost of parking in Paisley after a recent introduction of charges. 

Councillor Anne Hannigan has spoken out against the implentation of raising the cost of parking after reports of Cotton Street in Paisley being almost empty.

It comes after the end of the Free for Three scheme last week which allowed drivers to park in specific car parks for three hours at no charge.

Charges include the first hour still being free but now road users will have to fork out £4 for two hours, £5 for three hours and a maximum of four hours stay will cost £6.

Councillor Anne Hannigan has spoken out against the charges by calling them "horrendous".

She said: "I know the SNP group at the council consider the free one-hour parking to be a better deal for all.

"But the fact is that no one who is coming into the town for shopping or leisure reasons will be prepared to pay the sudden £4 charge for a second hour. 

"The charges should have been graduated to allow, for example, a £2 charge at most for the second hour, which would provide the council with a 100% jump in charges, and graduate the charge up to around a much larger charge for five hours or more for on-street parking, with off street parking being considerably lower."

The Gazette:

A decision to hike fines from £60 to £100 was also made – with the fee discounted to £50 if paid within a fortnight. 

In November, business owners gathered at Paisley's Town Hall with the petition that looked to save the 'Free for Three' parking scheme.

But the parking charges policy was passed by eight SNP councillors who voted in favour of the charges, with seven opposition councillors opposing it. 

Former LibDem councillor, Eileen McCartin, has also said that the jump between free and now having to pay £4 is shocking. 

She said: "The jump between being free for the first hour then £4 for the second hour is quite shocking. 

"The fact that it is then "only" £6 for four hours encourages more long-term parking, rather than reasonable parking costs for those shoppers we want to encourage into the town centre to support shops and restaurants."