A vote on which Wirral roads will be hit with new parking charges has been delayed by three months.

Last year, Wirral Council agreed to bring in charges for car parks and on-street parking in areas where it is currently free – including parts of New Brighton, West Kirby, Leasowe, Bromborough and many other parts of the borough.

As well as this, a £1 per hour standard rate, with a £5 per day maximum charge, was agreed to for all areas in Wirral which already charge.

The move is set to raise £1m per year once the new charges have been brought in, with the standardised rate now in place.

Labour and Green Party councillors were in favour throughout the process, arguing new charges were needed to ensure the authority was not subsidising car parking at a time when it faced huge pressures on its budget.

But Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors were against the plans, arguing they would damage local businesses emerging from the pandemic.

Ultimately, the motion was passed, and the council must now raise £1m from standardising fees and bringing in new charges.

But councillors in the environment, climate emergency and transport committee still have to agree on exactly which roads will face new charges.

An email sent by Wirral Council officer Mark Camborne, and seen by the LDRS, said that the meeting set to make this call would now take place in June rather than March.

The email read: "We have had over 4,000 objections/comments returned from the Car Parking TRO [Traffic Regulation Order] consultation and we are having to work through each one and ensure it is considered and responded to.

"We were hopeful the team would be able to complete this task for the March environment, climate emergency and transport committee, but unfortunately due to the sheer number of responses and the unexpected absence of key staff this has not been the case."

Instead, the findings will now be passed to the committee in June.

Wirral Council confirmed the delay and added: "It will only be after the June committee that the council will be in a position to advise of the changes and when any new charges will be implemented."

Labour's Liz Grey, who chairs the committee, said the delay was factored in and councillors were made aware that the TRO process would take time, adding that the delay was "nothing out of hand".

Cllr Grey said that streets would only be taken off the list for charges if a "valid objection" was received.

She added that the council's funds were now so depleted that it was looking at closing down leisure centres and axing lollipop ladies, referring to the proposal which could see the council halve its spending on the school crossing patrol service.

Therefore, continuing to subsidise car parking by not charging for it would be "morally reprehensible".

The Labour councillor said the authority was only having to do this due to its financial position, which she said was caused by the government taking "hundreds of millions of pounds" of funding away from the council.

Liberal Democrat councillor Phil Gilchrist, who was against the new charges, said: "I stuck my neck out and called in the charges for the special meeting last July.

"At the very least, by June, a year has been gained and people have got their concerns across. I showed the committee photos of Bromborough village car park and the side roads."

The Lib Dem group leader added: "The retail park is just two or three minutes away. Bromborough still attracts people, with its range of shops.

"People have made it clear that charges can damage the smaller shopping areas too, like the one serving Eastham Library, clinic and walk-in centre. The committee in June will certainly need to reflect on these wider impacts."