A headteacher has hit out at Croydon Council following a 320 per cent hike in charges for parking outside his school.

Archbishop Tenison's Church of England High School in Selborne Road previously paid teachers’ £1 on-street parking fees out of its own budget.

But since February 1 those charges have gone up to £3.20 - leaving the school unable to afford the subsidies and forcing staff to foot bills of more than £400 a year each.

The increase is part of borough-wide changes to parking charges that council officials hope will rake in an extra £1 million in revenue.

FROM JANUARY: Increased charges for longer-stay parking across Croydon coming into force next month

But headteacher Richard Parish said the council had scored "an own goal" by more than trebling the price and accused the authority of "unimaginative government".

He said: "We have limited parking. It's not really used by anybody but us and there's been a good arrangement for the last few years. The revenue for the council has been pretty steady.

"[But] if they think when the charges go up we're going to use it as much - we're not. It's an own goal."

The school's finance manager, Monica McDonagh, said the school spent about £1,600 on on-street parking subsidies for teachers in the 2015/2016 financial year.

But faced with the new charges, she said: "We just can't do it - it's unfortunately impossible."

Mrs McDonagh estimated that the 15-or-so teachers who park in Selborne Road would be forced to spend "another £400 a year out of their own money" a year to cover the extra cost.

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Mr Parish approached Croydon Council to request the creation of a "special zone" for teacher parking in nearby Deepdene Avenue, because of a lack of space in the school's on-site car park.

But he was told it would not be possible, the headteacher said.

The headteacher added: "Their policy is one size fits all - it's unimaginative government."

Mrs McDonagh said the majority of houses on Selborne Road and Deepdene Avenue had their own driveways, reducing the pressure on on-street parking.

A petition urging councillors to reconsider the decision to hike parking charges in the roads around the school will be presented at a full Croydon Council meeting on Monday.

Conservative councillor Vidhi Mohan, who will present the petition at the meeting, said he also appealed to council officers to make a "special case" for teacher parking outside Archbishop Tenison's - to no avail.

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He added: "It's going to have an impact on the school's finances. I don't see any logic in it.

"It's still a relatively small amount of money for the council, but a large amount for the school."

A spokesman for Croydon Council said: "Despite the fact we have standardised charges across the borough this has been the only school to have raised an issue and there are other roads within a ten minute walk that have all day free parking.

"The council has a policy to promote the use of sustainable public transport and there are various bus and tram stops very near the school, with East Croydon station only 15 minutes away.”

Mr Parish said he had "some sympathy" for Croydon Council's attempts to raise revenue through increased parking charges through a "blanket policy".

But he added: "Why don't you make that a special zone for us? Why can't you come to an agreement as a local borough school? Croydon children are educated here. We're suggesting common sense."

Despite his frustration, Mr Parish remained confident that local democracy could find a solution for the current parking quagmire in Selborne Road.

He said: "Croydon is a great place. This is the sort of place where we can solve these things."

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