People in Stockport have spoken about 'chaos' on their road after the council brought in new charges at a free car park.

Bramley Close car park, next to Bramhall railway station, used to be free but since 8 January Stockport council has enforced new charges for drivers to park there.

The fees were brought in as part of the council's budget in the face of having to make major cuts each year to balance the books.

Charges at Bramley Close start from 50p for an hour up to £2.40 for 10 hours, with charges applied between Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm.

But people living on nearby Bramley Road said more commuters have started parking on their street since the car parking charges came in, adding to congestion.

The road has double yellow lines along one side leaving cars parked together on the other side, and has a large bend in the road, limiting visibility.

It also acts as a cut-through to get across the village, and residents said there are regular problems with speeding.

The extra cars parking on the road have added to the issues, locals said, effectively turning the road into a single lane and forcing cars to mount pavements to get past each other.

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Bramley Road in Stockport (Image - Declan Carey LDRS)

People living on Bramley Road said cars are being left in the morning from as early as '7.30am' and not moved until 6pm in the evening.

Christine Proctor, 85, said: "It's terrible and very dangerous here. When I'm reversing out of my driveway people come really fast around the bend, you've got to be watching.

"I think there are probably more cars now because of the new parking charges at Bramley Close.

"There's someone who parks here from seven in the morning until six at night, it makes it hard for people to get a place to park."

Christine said cars are regularly driving down the road in search of a spot to park, with some drivers speeding.

She added: "Someone's going to get hurt here because of this, and then they'll do something about it."

Another resident, 58-year-old Cheryl, is also a long-term resident on the road and said it can be 'chaos' at busy times when several cars are trying to pass and all the parking spots are taken.

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Cheryl also explained that the extra cars parked on the road has made it harder for visitors to park nearby.

She added: "If they suspended the parking charges at Bramley Close I think it would definitely help.

"This has added stress to our lives, we're worrying about it, I open the blinds every day and just think 'oh God'."

Cheryl, a local resident (Image - Declan Carey LDRS)

Conservative councillor Peter Crossen has urged Lib Dem-led Stockport council to suspend the charges at Bramley Close car park.

He said: "Residents have been warning for years that parking and speeding along Bramley Road is dangerous.

"Introducing charges at the railway station car park has simply displaced even more vehicles into surrounding streets such as Bramley Road and made an already unsafe situation worse.

"The car park is now underused, while residents are facing increased congestion, blocked driveways and real fears about road safety.

"I back residents' calls for urgent and immediate action and call on the council to urgently suspend these charges and put proper traffic and parking controls in place before someone is seriously hurt."

Lib Dem councillor Grace Baynham, Stockport council's cabinet member with responsibilities including parking, said: "All our council car parks cost money to run, and after successive years of underfunding of local authorities across the country by the Conservative government, it is now harder to subsidise these services using council tax.

"Many councils across the country have had no choice but to introduce extra parking charges to set a balanced budget, which they are required to do every year, and Stockport is no exception.

"With projected savings of £75m needing to be made in the next few years, the situation isn't going to get any easier.

"The fees have been kept relatively low (50p for the first hour) but this is not a decision we have taken lightly.

"It is a decision that has been through consultation, scrutiny and was approved at full council. The offer is there, for local councillors to work with council officers, to mitigate the impacts of any increases to on-street parking."