From yesterday Scarborough Council introduced a new five-hour £2 tariff and a 24-hour £3.50 tariff at the Scalby Mills car park which it says will encourage visitors to spend longer in the North Bay.

But Sea Life Centre manager Iain Hawkins says it is effectively doubling the cost of parking for his customers and he wants the council to reconsider.

In the past five years the centre has attracted more than one million customers and Mr Hawkins fears for its future if profits begin to drop.

He said: "It is disappointing I was not consulted on the 100 per cent increase on Scalby Mills' minimum parking charge and the consequences it may have on our visitor numbers, profit and, longer term, our future.

A council consultation group formed to look at parking charges believed most people who used the Scalby Mills car park liked to walk on the cliffs and on the beach.

Council traffic and transportation manager Bruce Bedford said a review of parking usually takes place at the end of the summer but said Mr Hawkins was entitled to make his views known before then.

He said: "We have to try to recognise the needs of all our visitors in that area. I can understand his concerns. I'm not trying to put him out of business.

"The scrutiny members of the council have a working group and their view was we need to start moving away from tariffs that are based on a certain level of income to objectives such as supporting leisure pursuits and not just the Sea Life Centre.

"There are developments to come in the North Bay. We are trying to stimulate interest and taking a more radical view should support that."