NEW parking charges at Liverpool John Lennon Airport have angered some motorists after they were forced to pay increased fees.

The airport’s new multi-storey car park opened last Thursday, and prices at the former short stay and drop-off car park – now designated as a drop-off area only – have risen dramatically.

As before, drivers using the drop-off car park get the first 10 minutes free but if they stay any longer, the charge goes up by £2 for each additional 10 minutes – a one-hour stay costing £10.

Before the multi-storey opened, such a stay would have been £3.

Motorists now have to decide between parking in the drop-off area and risking going over the free 10 minutes and being hit with a high charge, or using the cheaper multi-storey car park.

Drivers using the multi-storey pay £1 for up to 20 minutes, £2 for up to 40 minutes, £3 for an hour or £5 for two hours.

Airport bosses say they have raised the prices for the drop-off area as it has been made smaller – reducing in capacity from 450 spaces to 100 – to accommodate the multi-storey.

Motorist Paul Thomas from Wavertree, who used the drop-off car park on Saturday night and paid £6 for 33 minutes, said the price rise was scandalous.

He said: “I drive to the airport quite often to drop friends off. The 10 minutes free is never sufficient. I never get back in time and I always end up having to pay a charge. That used to be about £2 or £2.50.

“On Saturday I was there at about 7pm, parked, took my ticket and went in, said goodbye to my friend, went to validate the ticket, and met with a £4 charge.

“I couldn’t believe this. I’d been there for about 20 minutes. When I went to complain I was told by attendants there was nothing they could do about it, the charge had only just gone up.

“There were no signs saying the price was higher, the attendant showed me the stickers that they would be placing over the old prices. By the time I’d finished complaining, my charge had gone up to £6. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

“I can be at the airport every fortnight. This is scandalous.”

Neil Phillipson, car park operations manager at JLA, said he believes 10 minutes is long enough to drop someone off and leave.

He said: “The multi-storey car park was opened last week and is designed for short stay parking.

“As multi-storeys go, it is cheap. We used Manchester Airport as a benchmark. People using the drop-off area now pay more after the initial free 10 minutes because there is less space.

“However, £1 for 20 minutes in the multi-storey gives people more time to say goodbye.”

He said signage about the new parking arrangements was now in place.