Car park charges at Bexleyheath Broadway are going to double today - and shoppers are not happy.

Charges are set to increase by more than 100 per cent in some cases, with the minimum stay of up to an hour rising from just 50p to £1.20.

Shoppers staying between one and two hours will no longer be able to pay £1, with the charge doubling, and those staying for up to three hours will have to pay £2.50.

Shoppers have taken to social media to express their frustration at the new charges.

One person said: "And they wonder why people go to Bluewater instead of shopping locally."

Another said: "I’m not saying parking should be free. And yes, £1.20 isn’t a great amount of money in the grand scheme of things. What I am saying, is that a 140 per cent increase overnight is unfair!"

And another frustrated shopper said: "This is awful, and Bexleyheath wonders why people don’t shop locally, come on!"

Bosses at the Broadway have defended the price hike, saying the new charges will alleviate congestion.

A spokesman said: "The reason for this primarily is down to customer experience; we want to alleviate congestion in the very popular and somewhat oversubscribed Square car park which will allow shoppers who need to use the supermarket etc more spaces to pop in get their shopping whilst still maintaining a low cost tariff.

"In order to do this we will £1.20 for one hour at The Square car park and £1.50 charge for two hours at our main centre car park, both charges much cheaper than or in line with most busy Greater London car parks.

"We are putting plans in play to spend up to £500,000 on the new car park payment systems making it easier to get in and out of our car parks swiftly, improved way finding to create a more pleasant experience for all shoppers as well as refreshing the existing car park and key areas of the shopping centre to ensure that it is a bright, modern, well lit, safe and comfortable area for all."

Here is a full list of the new charges for the Square:

Up to one hour: £1.20

Up to two hours: £2.00

Up to three hours: £2.50

Up to five hours: £5.00

Maximum stay of six hours: £7.00

Every hour over the maximum: £5.00

he new parking charges at the main centre multi-storey car park are:

Up to an hour: £1

Two hours: £1.50

Three hours: £2.00

Four hours: £2.50

Five to six hours: £3.50

Six hours plus: £7