CUSTOMERS at one of the New Forest's best-known pubs are having to pay to use its car park.

Free parking has been scrapped at the Queen’s Head in Burley.

The move is to prevent spaces being taken up by shoppers and walkers determined to avoid a pay-and-display car park next door.

Anyone using the 17th century pub between 8am and 6pm is charged a maximum of £5.

Burley is one of the New Forest’s tourist hot-spots and is usually crowded in the summer, thanks to its long connection with witchcraft.

Sybil Leek, a self-styled white witch, lived in the parish in the 1950s and was often seen with her pet jackdaw perched on her shoulder.

Pub staff noticed that people were parking outside the popular watering hole instead of using a council-owned car park where charges were introduced several years ago.

A Queen’s Head spokesman said: “Burley residents and visitors will know that parking is tricky in the area.

“To ensure our customers are able to benefit from our car park when they visit us, we have introduced a parking system in partnership with Britannia Parking.

“Customers are charged 80p for one hour and £5 for the day, which is similar to the charges implemented at nearby car parks.

“They can redeem the cost of parking against any food or drink purchased in the pub when their bill totals more than the price of their ticket.”

The spokesman said the system meant customers could be confident of finding a space in the pub’s car park every time they visited the Greene King-owned premises.

But the new charges have come under fire from Burley resident Richard Grant.

He said the pub’s previous landlords had been happy to allow locals to park there for a short time, even if they were running an errand elsewhere in the village.

Mr Grant warned that the pub could lose vital trade as a result of its decision to scrap free parking.

“Personally, I feel it’s most off-putting and gives the wrong impression,” he said.

“I used to park my car there just for a few minutes while I popped into the post office to by my newspaper. I will go back to using the main public car park, in which I always buy a ticket.”