More than £16,000 has been collected from a controversial new pay and display parking scheme during its first four months.

Charges were introduced along the seafront road at Princes Parade, Hythe, in May this year, after meters being installed in April.

But criticism followed the council’s decision to place the meters on the opposite side of the busy 40mph road, delaying the charges going live.

Visitors to the beach now pay from 60p per half hour to £7 a day during peak season, where it was previously free of charge.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by KentOnline's sister newspaper the Folkestone and Hythe Express has revealed that July proved to be the most lucrative month for the council, with £5,378.33 of parking time bought. June was the quietest, with £2,359.61.

A pay-per-minute scheme has also been introduced to give more flexibility to motorists, according to Cllr Ann Berry, cabinet member for transport.

In addition to the £16,085.66 raked in between May and the end of August, 111 parking charge notices (PCNs) have been handed out, with £1,845 worth paid off so far.

The most common contravention was parking without payment, in which 98 fines were issued.

The remaining PCNs were warning notices, and parking after payment had expired.

Most council car parking across the district are pay and display between 8am and 6pm daily.

Another FOI request earlier this year revealed that it cost the council more than £36,000 to install the 12 meters.

That excluded the £10,000 it cost to relocate them to the other side of the road.

Scores of people said ‘lives were being put at risk’ when they were erected on the opposite side of the 40mph road to the new parking bays.

The authority said the decision to introduce charges was made to improve parking flow and ease congestion on the seafront for when 150 homes and a leisure centre are built - a development submitted by the council itself that already cost taxpayers more than £800,000 before it was approved by the planning committee last month.

Around 200 protestors marched around the Civic Centre calling for the council to ‘Save Princes Parade’ before the meeting.

The campaign group of the same name is now exploring options for a judicial review over the way the council approved the scheme.

The authority had hoped to raise £633,945 through the parking scheme this year since its introduction five months ago.

A council spokesman said: "The £633,945 quoted is based on a 'best case' prediction contained in a report that included projected figures for the original parking proposal that included Sandgate Esplanade.

"Revised figures, that apply only to Princes Parade, anticipate a 'worst case' net income of £147,000 and a 'best case' net income projection of £367,560 for the financial year 2018/19.

"The pay and display didn’t go live until May this year.

"Charges apply from April 1 to September 30."