A ROW has been sparked over charges levied on motorists in some Cheshire East towns - including Crewe - being funnelled into resurfacing work on a free car park in Middlewich.

Cheshire East Council splashed out £54,349 on resurfacing the free Civic Way car park weeks after the authority voted against a proposal to widen parking charges across the borough, including in Middlewich.

Councillors in pay and display towns like Crewe and Knutsford are angry because the cash to pay for the Middlewich work has come from income raised from towns which pay to park.

The resurfacing works were scheduled to start within days of the highways committee voting against a proposal to go out to public consultation on introducing charges in towns where parking is currently free.

Crewe councillor Hazel Faddes told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "This proves we do need a fairer system for car parking charges and we do need money to maintain them."

And Knutsford councillor Stewart Gardiner note: "That money is raised from car parking in towns where charges are enforced. It's being used to support other car parks and that's not fair.

"We also need to recognise there are parts of our borough where there are people really struggling, for example in parts of Crewe and Macclesfield where we have got the highest levels of deprivation, yet in those areas people are subsidising other areas of the borough and they are prioritising car park resurfacing."

Middlewich councillor Jonathan Parry says motorists were deterred from using the Civic Way car park because it was full of potholes and weeds.

"I think part of the motivation of doing it up was they were thinking that charges were going to be implemented on it soon and couldn't in the state it was in," said Cllr Parry. "It is still a Cheshire East asset and they have got to protect the assets."

He added: "I sympathise with other towns which have charges and I've always stated I think charges should be fair, but you've got to look at what is available in the town centre.

"I think we should be looking at devolving car parks in town centres where they're obviously not going to make the money. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at Middlewich and know if you implement charges you aren't going to make your money back.

"To me, we need to look at devolving those to the town councils to look after because that would cover the business rates for those car parks and that removes the situation where you're going to have other towns paying for car parks in other areas.

"I do believe the other car parks around the borough need to be looked at on a fair basis."

Cheshire East Council confirmed it paid for the resurfacing of the free Middlewich car park and said it had cost nearly £10,000 more than expected because cars had been abandoned on the site.

A spokesperson for the council said: "Works to the Civic Way Car Park were undertaken by Cheshire East Council last year, once the NHS had vacated the Civic Hall.

"However, due to the presence of abandoned cars, which were across six parking spaces, we had to wait until these had been removed to finish the work.

"This has now been completed, with the final white lining done on January 17. The total cost of the works was £54,349 – which included £9,926 of additional costs due to the abandoned cars."