BYEFIELD Lane car park in Abergavenny is set to be the first affected by the new car park charges when pay-and-display is introduced next month.

Monmouthshire County Council's countywide price increases were initially planned to come into force in October but will now not be implemented until the New Year, following a series of delays. But Byefield Lane is set to be the exception with pay-and-display machines already installed and charges due to come into force before Christmas.

A county council spokesman said: "The machines at Byefield Lane are in place now and we are drafting a public notice for the charges.

"We are also keen to get our new anti-social behaviour measures in place before the main car park charges elsewhere and those should also be in force by Christmas."

The new countywide measures to combat anti-social behaviour and speeding in car parks will give police more powers to crackdown on dangerous driving.

The spokesman added that the series of delays had cost the council thousands of pounds and that an emergency report was being drawn up to redress the deficit.

He said: "Obviously the whole decision process was delayed by the scrutiny committee and then the referral back to cabinet. Then we had a couple of IT problems with the machines.

"The report will be going to cabinet for approval in December.

"It will outline how we can balance the budget and will include increases elsewhere."