THE announcement of imminent parking charges at Ledbury Station from the start of July was made in error by West Midlands Trains, leaving commuters confused.

Although posters were in place at the station, announcing charges from July 1, this only applied to other stations and not in fact to Ledbury.

Parking meters did not appear and, at the time of going to press, parking at the station remains free.

The matter was discussed at a recent town council meeting by town and county councillor, Liz Harvey who said "the announcement of parking charges at Ledbury Station had been made in error by West Midland Trains."

Cllr Harvey has asked West Midlands Trains to contact the town clerk, Angela Price, about plans to undertake a survey into parking charges, a survey which is set to take place "in the near future".

This survey has been confirmed by West Midland Trains.

A spokesman said: "I’m not sure what the exact wording of the Ledbury posters was but the confusion may be related to the fact that July 1 was the implementation date for parking charges coming in at some other stations in the network.

"At Ledbury, further discussions with partners and authorities are ongoing and so implementation has not yet happened.

"We apologise to passengers for any confusion relating to the implementation of charges at Ledbury."

But some Ledbury residents believe general improvements at the station are of more importance that introducing car parking charges, if and when that happens.

Posting on the Voice of Ledbury Facebook site, Sara Manns Pedlingham said: "If the station had basic facilities it wouldn't be as bad; but it has nothing: no toilets, no proper waiting areas, no disabled access or access for anyone with young children, no assistance for any disabled passengers.

"Surely this needs addressing before deciding to screw parking charges out of passengers? This is not to mention how dangerous the area will be once cars are dumped in surrounding roads."

The fear of more on-road parking in residential streets, if parking charges are introduced at the station, has already been raised by other Ledbury residents.

Speaking in June, when parking charges seemed to be on the cards, Cameron Pound said: "It’s good you get charged, so that people don’t park there all day for free and go into the town; but those people will park by our houses when there is no parking at all!"