Increasing parking charges in Merton has once again been hotly debated by councillors.

Last month, plans to increase charges across the borough were branded discriminatory by some residents who claim those living in Wimbledon would be unfairly targeted.

It could see street parking in Wimbledon rise to £4.50 an hour from £1.20- 2.40, while there would be a smaller increase in the east of the borough.

At a full council meeting on Wednesday (February 6) Liberal Democrat councillors called on the council to introduce charges based on vehicle emissions.

So the worst polluting cars would be charged more than less polluting ones.

But their bid for a change in the proposals was unsuccessful.

Lib Dem councillor Simon McGrath told the meeting that he could not find any evidence that increasing parking charges would improve air quality in an area adding that it could put people off visiting town centres in the borough.

“It is not a tax on pollution, it is a tax on not voting for the Labour party,” he said.

“We should link the parking charges to the amount of pollution a car puts out and not where they in the borough.”

While fellow Lib Dem councillor Anthony Fairclough said that ‘parked cars don’t pollute’ so more focus should go on un-environmentally friendly vehicles.

But cabinet member for adult social care, Cllr Tobin Byers, said the charge could encourage residents to ditch their cars in favour of walking and public transport.

“We are looking to reduce the number of vehicles in the borough and clean up the ones that remain, so a two pronged approach is the right one,” he said.

“I welcome the enthusiasm to explore emissions based charging and I look forward to working with colleagues across the chamber when we look at that in due course.

“However that does not mean that we should not work to tackle poor air quality in the meantime and the parking strategy is an integral part of that.”