CHANGES to parking charges to make it cheaper for residents living near Glasgow’s super hospital have been delayed following fears of a legal challenge.

The area around the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital has been the site of a bitter dispute with locals protesting against a proposed £50 permit charge that would allow them to park outside their homes.

The G51 Free Parking Group has led the fight against the permits with Glasgow City Council still weighing up a range of charging options, with an independent reviewer recommending reduced rates – including a £15 permit charge for residents.

In February, the SNP promised residents that it would not introduce parking charges for locals living near the hospital if they won the May city council elections.

But Anna Richardson, the SNP city council convener for sustainability and carbon reduction has indicated in a report that even reduced rates cannot be cut, for legal reasons.

Lisa Devlin, of the G51 Free Parking Group, which has campaigned against the plans, hit out at the report saying: “We are not happy with this at all. That is not what the SNP promised.

“We will fight to get our proposals introduced, which is to scrap the charges, have free resident and visitor permits, with no parking meters, no double yellow lines or reductions to our parking bays.”

The council’s legal advice was that there is a “significant risk” they would be acting outwith its statutory powers if it went with the discounts suggested by the reviewer, which included a 70 per cent discount from the standard tariff, lowering visitor permits to 60p and business permits to £210 per year.

Ms Richardson will tell council’s executive committee on Thursday that there is the risk that the discount could be considered to be a “subsidy”, would bring an “inequality” in parking charges into sharp focus and create a risk of a legal challenge from other residents or businesses who would not benefit.