Sunday parking charges have shrunk my congregation by nearly a fifth, complains Wolverhampton's top vicar

Reverend David Wright, rector at the city's main church, said the 17 per cent fall can be traced back to April when Wolverhampton City Council brought in Sunday fees for the first time.

An average of 200 worshippers attend Sunday service but that figure has dropped by around 30.

Normal parking charges now apply on Sundays, meaning drivers have to pay fees ranging from 60p for an hour to £4 for four hours.

Reverend Wright said: "We have found that this has affected us very quickly. We have kept monitoring the congregation numbers and it is currently around 17 per cent lower than when we compare it to before the charges were introduced.

"Members are now deciding to come less frequently. They still come but they are coming every other week or once a month.

"There is limited car parking in the city anyway and the charges are certainly putting people off.

"I think if it is affecting us, it must be hitting the retailers.

"What we are seeing happen is whereas parents would drop members of the choir off for rehearsal on a Sunday morning before service and then go into town - they now drop them off and go to Bentley Bridge before coming back."

It comes as figures from the Church of England show that average attendance to church is increasing.

The number of adult worshippers going to a weekly service in the Diocese of Lichfield, which covers Staffordshire, parts of the Black Country and Shropshire, increased by 12 per cent last year.

Attendances on Sunday increased by an average of 100 people to 27,900.

Reverend Wright also voiced concerns over proposals that see Broad Street car park, which has 212 spaces, and the 80-space St Peter's car park, earmarked as potential development opportunities.

He said: "These are two of the main car parks that serve the city centre - if these go you have to ask yourself where replacement car parks would go.

"Attempts to attract more shops, visitors and shoppers to the city centre would be fruitless without car parking in this part of the city."

Drivers in Wolverhampton city centre have faced Sunday parking charges since the start of April.

And in the 10 weeks since they were introduced they have brought in £11,421 with a total of 251 fines have been handed to drivers who flouted the rules- although council bosses gave a three week grace period when drivers were issued with warning letters as they got used to the new charges.

Sunday parking charges were introduced as the city council battles to save £123 million over the next five years.

Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Tim Clark said: "It is perhaps unwise to jump to conclusions that the introduction of moderate car parking charges on a Sunday are to blame for falling church attendance. After all, it costs just £1 to park for two hours very near to the church. The fact is that despite being one of the top 20 biggest cities in the UK, Wolverhampton remains one of the cheapest places to park. In these times of austerity the council simply doesn't have the money to offer our clean, safe, well-maintained car parks for free."