Stratford District Council is currently reviewing parking across the whole district.

In Stratford it intends to increase car parking charges and improve its park and ride scheme to help cut congestion.

And in the market towns, including Southam, charging or maximum time limits are likely to be introduced.

This would mean the end of free parking in the town's Wood Street car park - an issue Coun Nigel Rock (Lib Dem, Stockton and Napton) is raising with the district council.

He said: "Southam needs the villages round about and the villages need Southam, but charging for parking will be a disincentive to the people who might go there.

"Overall I am happy with how the strategy is developing, but the document is Stratford-centric and does not give Southam the proper consideration it deserves.

"Public transport from the villages to the market towns is extremely poor, which means most people have to drive. And if they have to pay to park people from places like Napton and Stockton might as well go to Leamington or Rugby.

"This means the economy will suffer and make it a less of a vibrant town and rural centre."

In December the district council surveyed its 'citizens' panel' of more than 1,000 residents on the proposed changes.

In relation to car parks "outside Stratford town itself", 47.5 per cent voted for the introduction of a waiting restriction and 52.5 per cent wanted an hourly fee of 20p.

But Coun Rock feels residents may have been misled by thinking the question referred to car parks on the outskirts of Stratford and not in Southam and the market towns.

Since 2003 traffic flow through Stratford has increased by 20 per cent. Peak-time average speed is now 14 mph.

While the stated aim of the district council's parking plan is to combat congestion it has also been drawn up to "maintain the council's financial position".

The scheme compares Stratford with neighbouring towns and those with a similar tourist appeal, such as York and Salisbury.

And shows that car parking charges in Stratford are generally lower than anywhere else.

The Royal Shakespeare Company - Stratford's primary tourist attraction - has been consulted on the proposed changes.

The theatre expects to receive up to 1,000 visitors a day when its new premises are built in 2010 and favours a designated car park for theatre-goers rather than park and ride as a solution to parking problems.

A district council spokesperson said: "The parking strategy is due to go to the executive on June 2. It has been drawn up so that decisions can be made coherently for the development of parking services across the whole district."