A pensioner is angry that parking meters have been installed near the Black Lion Leisure Centre in Gillingham.

Peter Nassan, 69, says the decision to put up pay and display meters in the Brompton Road/Mill Road and Marlborough Road areas of town is a money-making scheme for Medway Council.

But the authority has said it installed the meters to reduce hazards to through traffic from Chatham when cars park alongside the Black Lion.

Mr Nassan said: “Putting pay and display meters along Brompton Road and the other nearby streets will make no difference. People will still park their cars there whether they have to pay or not, it will still create a hazard.

“It’s just another money-making scheme thought up by someone at the council.

Mr Nassan, who lives in Longhill Avenue, Gillingham, also fears making people pay to park in roads close to the town will kill town centre trade.

He added: “None of it makes any sense.”

A spokesman for Medway Council said:“The pay and display bays are part of a wider scheme to improve road safety in the area around the Marlborough Road/Mill Road junction and the approach from the Chatham direction.

“In particular, the aim is to reduce the potential hazard to through traffic from parked cars alongside the Black Lion by restricting the extent and duration of parking.”