Commuters and residents react with anger at Transport for London's plans to increase station car park fees

Daily parking prices at Buckhurst Hill, Debden, Epping, Loughton and Theydon Bois stations will shoot up from January 5 - some by more than 40 per cent.

The biggest leap will be in Debden and Theydon Bois, where weekday fees will rise from £3.50 to £5.

In Epping, parkers will be forced to pay up to £6 on weekdays - up from £5.50 and well above the London Underground car park average of £5.07 - while the tariff in Buckhurst Hill and Loughton will rise from £4.50 to £5 a day.

Transport for London (TfL) has justified the increase by insisting it will bring prices 'more into line' with other local car parks.

But residents plagued by motorists clogging up their streets to avoid parking charges say the move will make their situation worse - while commuters have also condemned the rise.

Barry Johnston, of Torrington Gardens, has been demanding restrictions in residential streets near Debden station for years.

"They are getting here 5.30am or 6am in time to get the free parking spaces," said Mr Johnston, 64.

"If they put the prices up by that much in January, they will start getting here earlier and earlier.

"They park all round, right up on the pavements. It will be chaos."

Commuters are also facing a 4.2 per cent increase in London bus and tube fares in the new year.

Patricia Jones, 58, has been making the journey from Epping Green to Liverpool Street since 1988 - when a day's parking at Epping cost 30p.

She said: "I think they ought to be hung, drawn and quartered - they are going exactly the correct way to drive people back to the roads.

"That justification is outrageous because private companies can charge what they like."

Simon Watson, 50, of Kettlebury Way, Ongar, currently parks at Hainault station - where fees will rocket from £3.50 to £5.

He accused TfL of 'ripping off' commuters who have no other choice.

"Over the years I have driven to most of the stations at the eastern end of the Central line in a vain attempt to improve my journey times and chances of finding some sort of parking near to or at the station," he said.

"The government tries to encourage us to use public transport where possible, putting up countless barriers to driving in London, but we don't all live within walking distance of a station.

"This is surely just an excuse to increase prices to what they can get away with."