WORSENING financial problems have sparked a shake-up of Oxford’s park-and-ride sites, making the return of parking fees look inevitable.

Parking at the five centres has been free since October 2008, when County Hall took over management of Pear Tree, Redbridge and Seacourt from the city council.

At the same time it also abolished the £1-a-day parking fee, meaning drivers only had to pay their bus fare into the city centre.

The change brought the trio into line with the county council-owned Thornhill and Water Eaton sites, where parking was already free thanks to a council subsidy.

Under the agreement, the county paid the city £250,000 a year to make up for the loss of revenue from parking fees and cover other costs. In 2008, the then county cabinet member for transport, Ian Hudspeth, said the deal would end confusion over which sites were free.

He added: “The easier it is to park and ride, the more people are likely to use it.”

But in a statement yesterday, the councils said the subsidy was no longer affordable, due to budget pressures. As a result, the city council will have to manage its three sites directly from October, with deputy leader Ed Turner warning the return of parking fees to help cover the £700,000 annual running costs looked inevitable.

A review will be carried out as to what fee may be charged and when.

And the county council said that while parking for people heading into Oxford from Thornhill and Water Eaton would remain free, it was looking into charging London commuters and long-stay airport-parkers at Thornhill and Water Eaton.

Mr Turner said yesterday: “The city council’s aspiration would be to continue providing free park-and-ride spaces for people coming into the city. Unfortunately, it seems this will not be possible.”

He added: “Naturally, we are disappointed. More people have been using the park-and-ride sites and fewer people have been driving into the city centre in the last three years. This has helped reduce congestion and made the city centre a more pleasant environment.”

Rodney Rose, the county council cabinet member for transport, said: “Our decision to take on responsibility for all sites was originally taken in better financial times, when we could absorb the costs.

“Sadly, both ourselves and our partners at the city council can no longer afford to continue with this arrangement.”

Stephen Brown, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader on the city council, said: “I feel very let down by the county council and feel they have reneged on previous agreements with the city.”

The county council is looking at technology for long-staying parking at Thornhill and Water Eaton.

Oxford pioneered park-and-ride to cut city centre congestion in the UK, with the first site at Redbridge in 1973. Fewer than a dozen cars used the 250-space car park on the first day.

Now more than one million cars a year use the five park-and-ride sites, taking one in five of all cars heading into the city in the morning rush-hour. The five sites can accommodate 5,000 cars.