Halesowen workers and businesses have slammed yet another hike in car parking charges which they say could kill off the town.

Workers say they face paying more than £10 a week to park and shoppers are already being put off by the regeneration works which mean much of the centre is in chaos.

Steve Fitzpatrick, chairman of Halesowen Chamber of Trade, said it was especially bad timing for the daily charge to increase from £1.70 to £2.30 as firms are already struggling to attract customers as building is underway.

Wendy Rose, who works in Three Cooks bakery said increasing charges while Halesowen is in disarray is "absolutely disgusting."

The 51-year-old mum of two said: "How can you expect people to come to Halesowen with the chaos at the moment as it is without putting up the parking?

"It will now cost me over £10 a week to park and I only work 20 hours a week give or take for the minimum wage.

"I have lived in Halesowen for more than 30 years and still use Halesowen to be loyal to our shop keepers and feed money back into Halesowen, but this parking is ridiculous."

Wendy, of Barrack Lane, said: "For a town that's got hardly anything - everyone feels the same way.

"They ought to let us have free parking.

"We still support Halesowen, but this will kill it - it's such a shame."

Steve Fitzpatrick, who has written to the council complaining about the hike, said: "People aren't going to come in with the car parking charges the way they are.

"I feel sorry for the people who work here."

A spokesman for Dudley Council said: "The recent charges review has brought Dudley in line with our neighbours.

"The borough still offers the best value for car park charging locally.

"The increase will allow around £135,000 to be reinvested into car park improvements including security measures.

"Vale Retail, Centro-WMPTA and Dudley Council are working to deliver £30 million of improvements to Halesowen, which include a new Asda, large multi-storey car park, a £3.5 million bus station and a new road layout with improved pedestrian crossing facilities.

"Halesowen already offers a great deal to shoppers but the regeneration project will create a state of the art shopping environment, making Halesowen an even better place to visit.

"These are major works and all partners are working to ensure there is as minimal disruption as possible."