Car parking charges are to increase at Mayday and Purley Hospitals.

The hospital trust says the changes will reduce the number of people who use the car parks for short-term parking and say the revenue generated will go towards maintenance and the costs of lighting and additional security.

The minimum charge will be £2.50 to park for up to two hours, which will rise in two-hour intervals to a maximum of eight hours when a £8 rate will apply.

A new 24-hour parking rate has been introduced for people who need to be at the hospitals all day and the length of stay at the official drop-off and pick-up points has been extended to 30 minutes which the trust hopes will ensure there is more parking for out-patients and visitors.

Permits will be available for the next-of-kin of very sick patients.

Nikki Luffingham, director of operations at the trust, said: "We have a very limited number of parking spaces on our site and we wish to preserve as many as possible for those who need them.

"At the same time we are continuing to invest money into security and, so that we don't use money allocated to provide care to patients, we have to recoup the money by charging a reasonable rate for parking on site."