A rowing club fears it will lose members if plans to raise the cost of parking go ahead.

A proposal to double the price of an annual parking permit at Talkin Tarn, near Brampton, has been put forward by Carlisle City Council as part of its draft budget.

But John Lewis, secretary of Talkin Tarn Amateur Rowing Club, says that the authority could actually lose money by raising the price from £52 to £104.

“I think there are around 40 people who have annual parking permits and about half of those are rowing club members,” Mr Lewis said.

“A lot of our members are only there at weekends between 7.30am or 8am and we’re done by 11am. There’s not really anyone else there at that time.

“They’re occupying spaces that otherwise wouldn’t be filled. We’ve had some of our members tell us that if the cost doubles, then they’d have to consider giving up rowing.”

He also said that the city council should look at other ideas, adding that increasing the cost of an annual permit was an “easy option”.

“Places like Hammonds Pond and Stoneyholme don’t have parking charges,” he said.

“I think they should also look at the coffee shop as well. From what I gather, the only time it was profitable was when it received money from an environment stewardship scheme.

“It’s open between 10am and 4pm. On a busy bank holiday it still shuts at 4pm when there are people around. It doesn’t have to be the full tea-room that’s open, just the bit downstairs.

“I think that they could also look at the way that the boating franchise is handled .”

Conservative councillors Paul Nedved and Mike Mitchelson have already spoken out against the proposals and Mr Nedved said he will continue to highlight the issue.

The final budget proposals will be discussed by the full council on February 7.

In a letter to Carlisle City Council, Denis Burke, a member of the rowing club and user of Talkin Tarn, added: “As a club we have and are achieving some success regionally and nationally and we would hope to maintain our success.

“That requires us to continue to attract members and to allow those wanting to achieve and fly the flag for our region to be able to attend regular training sessions.

“Therefore any proposal for change to parking permit charges should be reviewed for active club members, taking into account the contribution already made via our rates, the fact that time of usage is generally off peak and to achieve equity with other sports venues.”