Attractive : Motorists will be given cut price parking on rainy days in summer . Parking charges at a popular British seaside resort could soon be weather dependent after a council pledged to halve them when it rains . Councillors in Brighton and Hove say they want to end 'rip-off ' charges and are suggesting motorists pay 'significantly less ' for street parking on rainy summer days . The scheme , which would be the first of its kind in the UK , is modeled on flexible parking charges schemes in San Francisco and Madrid . It forms part of the Conservative Party manifesto for the May 7 council elections promising , ' A common sense council for Brighton and Hove ' . It says : 'We will examine flexible parking charges and the innovative use of technology e.g . introduce significantly cheaper charges in winter , on rainy summer days etc . 'It is bizarre that summer parking rates begin on 1 March.Under the Conservatives summer parking charges will only apply in summer . ' But critics have hailed it as an early April Fools ' Day joke , given the fickle British summertime weather . Conservative transport spokesman Graham Cox , told The Telegraph the economy relied on the weather and they had to look at ways of attracting people when it was bad . 'If it 's a lovely , hot , summer day in June , July or August , the queues in Brighton will stretch up the A23 and every space in town is taken . If it 's wet , it 's a very different situation , ' he said . Every cloud : Conservative councillors in Brighton and Hove are promising to halve the cost of parking on rainy days in summer in a bid to boost tourist numbers . In 2013 , business leaders blamed parking charges and poor weather for the plummeting number of visitors to the region during a particularly wet summer . Figures from the Brighton Business Improvement District ( BID ) showed footfall in the city had dropped by 14 per cent year-on-year . Costly sunshine : Visitors would be charged twice as much to park on sunny days under new proposals by councillors in Brighton . The parking proposal would be based on weather forecasts so if heavy downpours were predicted for a particular weekend , the parking tariffs would be reduced . Motoring organisations said it would confuse drivers and said both tariffs and clear instructions would need putting on street parking signs .
'Significantly cheaper ' charges promised during rainy summer days . The cut rate aims to boost falling visitor numbers to resort when its wet . Comment: