Parking in Tonbridge: Sundays Cost the Same as Weekdays

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council runs 32 car parks. The single thing worth knowing before you park in Tonbridge is that there is no free Sunday. Every chargeable car park in the borough charges seven days a week, at the same tariff, and the only days the machines are switched off are Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

The second thing is the machines. The council’s ticket machines take coins from 10p upwards. They do not give change and they do not accept cards. Card payment means the RingGo app, and every car park has its own location number on the signs.

Tonbridge short stay

Charging runs 8am to 8pm every day. Six of these give you a free half hour, but you still have to get a free ticket from the machine and display it. Three do not, and charge 80p.

After the first half hour they all charge the same: £1.60 for an hour, £3.20 for two, £4.80 for three, £6.40 for four, then £3.20 for each extra hour. Maximum stay is 23 consecutive hours.

Angel East and Angel West are the Sainsbury’s car parks. The store runs its own refund scheme against the parking fee for customers who pay cash, and the council says queries about it go to Sainsbury’s, not to the council.

Tonbridge long stay: £7 for the day

Seven car parks run the long stay tariff: £1.60 for an hour, £3.00 for two, £4.10 for three, £6.20 for six and £7.00 for up to 23 hours. Same charging window, 8am to 8pm every day.

• Lower Castle Field, The Slade: 161 bays, 2 disabled
• Sovereign Way North: 164 bays, 4 disabled
• Sovereign Way Mid: 112 bays
• Sovereign Way East: 67 bays
• Waterloo Road: 32 bays, 1 disabled
• Lower Castle Field overflow, The Slade: 32 bays
• Lower Castle Field Swimming Pool: 27 bays, 6 disabled

Vale Road is the trap. It runs the same tariff but Monday to Friday it is season ticket holders only, and on Saturdays and Sundays it takes phone payment and season tickets but no cash. Turning up with coins on a weekday will not work.

Haysden Country Park is charged separately and daily: £2.20 up to four hours, £5.00 over four hours. It has a 2 metre height barrier, and the council warns there is no call-out facility if your car is still inside when the gates are locked.

Where parking is free

Eight council car parks charge nothing at all. Only one of them is in Tonbridge.

Two Aylesford car parks stopped being free recently. Bailey Bridge East and Bailey Bridge West began charging on 10 November 2025, and the council’s own listing explains why: major utility works were expected on the land meant to extend Bailey Bridge East, so it brought the charges in before the extension was built.

Both, and Martin Square in Larkfield, run the same tariff: first hour free with a ticket, then £2.00 for two hours, £2.90 for three, £3.80 for four and £5.80 for 23 hours.

The rest of the borough

• West Malling High Street, 111 bays: 8.30am to 5.30pm every day, 60p for 30 minutes rising to £3.80 for four hours, and four hours is the maximum stay.
• West Malling Ryarsh Lane, 115 bays: season ticket holders only Monday to Friday 8am to 2.45pm, then phone payment or season ticket at weekends. Over four hours is £5.80.
• Borough Green Western Road, 76 bays: the cheapest in the borough by a distance. 30p for 30 minutes, £1.00 for two hours, £3.50 for nine hours and £5.50 for 23 hours.

On-street bays

On-street charging is narrower than the car parks: Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm in Tonbridge.

• High Street (both sides of Castle Street), Avebury Avenue and River Lawn Road: 80p for 30 minutes, £1.60 an hour, £3.20 for two hours. RingGo or coins.
• Morley Road: £2.00 for up to 24 hours, RingGo only, no machine.
• West Malling High Street and Swan Street: all days 8am to 8pm, first hour free, then £2.00 for two hours up to £3.80 for four.

Permits

Resident permit schemes cover Blue Bell Hill, Borough Green, East Malling, Tonbridge and West Malling. Everything is digital, tied to a registration number, and applied for through the council’s permit account.

• First permit per household: £58 a year, and 10 free visitor permits if you ask for them with that first application
• Second permit: £58 a year
• Third permit: £115 a year
• Fourth and further permits: £175 a year
• Non-UK registered vehicle: £29 for six months

You need one proof of address and one proof that you own or use the vehicle, both in the same name as the account. The council notes that not every address inside a permit area is eligible, and that new developments are not usually added to existing areas.

Season tickets

The off-peak ticket at £360 is the one most people overlook. It covers 4pm to 9am Monday to Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday in any council car park in Tonbridge except Haysden Country Park and Swanmead. For anyone who parks in town in the evening or at weekends rather than during the working day, it is a third of the price of a full Sovereign Way ticket.

Two conditions catch people. Sovereign Way complex tickets do not cover Sovereign Way Mid, despite the name. And a season ticket can carry up to three registrations but only one can be active at a time, so you have to switch the active vehicle in your account before you leave the car, or risk a penalty notice.

Blue badge

Blue badge holders park free in the council’s car parks, for up to 23 consecutive hours, with the badge displayed. On-street in permit bays, a badge lets you park for the maximum shown on the clock, which is normally three hours; beyond that you need a resident or visitor permit. Badges themselves are issued by Kent County Council, not the borough.

The largest blocks of disabled bays in Tonbridge are Angel East with 20, Botany with 13 and Castle Grounds with 7 out of only 22 spaces.

Tonbridge station

The station car park is not the council’s. It is run by APCOA, has 716 spaces including 20 accessible, and is open 24 hours.

Set the annual station rate of £1,616 against the council’s Sovereign Way season ticket at £1,150 and the gap is £466 a year for a walk of a few minutes. Blue badge holders park free at the station, but only if they register the vehicle in advance at bluebadge.apcoa.co.uk.

If you get a ticket

Challenge it within 14 days to keep the 50% discount, online or in writing, never by phone. Paying the penalty gives up your right to appeal, so challenge first if you intend to. The council does not publish the amount of a penalty charge notice anywhere on its parking pages, so the figure on your notice is the only one to work from.

Related

• Tonbridge bin collection days: what goes in each bin, and where the nearest tip is.
• Tonbridge council tax bands: the full A to H table for all 28 parishes.
• Tonbridge roadworks and travel: live closures before you drive in.

Sources

• Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council car park directory, every one of the 32 records read individually on 30 August 2026 for tariffs, charging hours, bay counts and restrictions.
• On-street chargeable bays, resident permits, car park season tickets, disabled parking and challenging a penalty.
• National Rail, Tonbridge station, for the APCOA car park size and rates.

Last checked 30 August 2026. Tariffs change; the price on the machine or the RingGo screen is the one that counts.