CONTROVERSIAL car parking charges will come into force in Dedham next month.

Visitors will have to pay to use Duck Pond and Mill Lane car parks, following years of speculation.

Colchester Council confirmed the plans last summer, but shelved them following uproar from businesses to allow for more consultation to take place.

The council is now pressing ahead with the fees, but Dedham businesses will each be given two free annual car parking season tickets.

Cameron Marshall, owner of the Boathouse restaurant in Mill Lane, said: "We know we have got trouble coming."