A CAMPAIGN against increased charges at hospital car parks hotted up today with the launch of a petition back by an MP.

The cost of parking at the Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in Hastings, is to rise substantially.

From this month, patients and their families will pay £3 a day, compared to the previous charge of £1.20 a day at Eastbourne and £1 at Hastings.

Last week, board members at East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both sites, agreed the increase unanimously.

Trust bosses pledged to plough the estimated £180,000-a-year income the rises will generate into improving parking facilities.

Car park assistants will be hired at the Conquest Hospital, security at both sites will be beefed up and more short-stay spaces created.

Hospital bosses said people using the car parks to park-and-ride was an increasing problem, with space at a premium.

Trust chief executive Annette Sergeant said the charges had remained stagnant since 2000 and they would still remain comparatively cheap.

But Eastbourne Tory MP Nigel Waterson has condemned the decision, saying people on low incomes will be hit hard.

He has now organised a petition, which he is urging people to sign and which will be handed to Mrs Sergeant in a bid to secure a rethink.

He said: "The level of charges was already high for those on fixed incomes, like pensioners.

"Many of them will find the higher charges hard to bear, especially with the massive increase in council tax.

"It's especially galling that the extra money generated is not even going to be spent on patient care.

"For the vast majority of people who use the DGH car park, it is a necessity not a choice."

Patient groups also voiced concern with Hastings and Rother Community Health Council saying it was "outraged".

John Hollands, of Hastings and Rother CHC, cast doubt on whether increasing charges would result in more spaces.

Mother-of-two Kim Spencer, of Langney, Eastbourne, said: "I wouldn't mind paying the extra amount if I knew the money was going towards patient care. But from what I understand it's not.

"Paying £3 is a bit much, particularly for mums like me who have to watch our pennies.

"I imagine a lot of elderly people will find it hard too. Eastbourne's not a well-off place."