Sunday parking charges could potentially close Dunfermline Abbey to visitors for half the year, says Reverend MaryAnn Rennie.

She said that a drop in the level of donations they receive may lead to a cut in the funding for staff who manage the Abbey Church, leading to the possibility of it being shut from March to October.

Fife Council is set to put the brakes on free car-parking across the Kingdom on Sundays and the new measures have been met with opposition in Dunfermline.

Rev Rennie said: "Our congregation are the only people that fund the Abbey.

"I have no doubt that the parish council will have to think about what services might need to be cut when budgets are stretched as we cannot charge the public for visiting the Abbey.

"Fife Council seem to be only looking at the short term solutions of making savings without thinking about the long term issues it will cost them.

"Our biggest fear is that each church member could be paying £100 a year for parking, the whole church could then lose out on £10,000 that could have been used on vital community projects.

"Fife Council already does not have the funds to support community projects."

Shutting the Abbey between March and October, if the plans go ahead, would also damage tourism in the town. 

Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Sommerville said: " I am worried that Sunday parking charges will deter visitors from visiting Dunfermline and that Sunday morning congregations will be badly affected.

"I think it is important to stand united with other local representatives to highlight this ill-judged decision by Fife Council."

The charges were included in the Labour administration's budget in February, and councillors on the executive committee are being asked to give final approval on Tuesday.

One of the other options is to introduce Sunday parking charges from 1pm, as they do in Dundee, to ensure churchgoers are not hit by charges. 

Soma Raviraj, a senior manager at Fife Council, said: "With Sunday trading now commonplace, demand for parking within our town centres on Sundays is generally like any other day of the week and we need to find ways to meet the demand.

"Car parks in Dunfermline are approximately 75 per cent full on Sundays and at specific times, such as the lead up to Christmas and during town events, this can be much higher.

"Given this level of demand it is appropriate to charge for car parking on Sundays, to safeguard access to our centres for shoppers, businesses and visitors.

"With the ongoing budget challenges facing all local authorities, Fife is one of the few councils to not yet introduce parking on Sunday and parking charges in Fife also compares very favourably with neighbouring authorities. 

"In Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy, the private car park operators associated with the shopping centres already charge all day on Sundays.

"We have also carried out an extensive additional assessment on the location and availability of free parking around all town centre churches and in many cases there is still free parking capacity within a short walk (360m)  of churches on a Sunday morning. 

"However, we also appreciate this walk may be difficult for some elderly church-goers and we would want to reassure that them that if they are already blue badge holders can still access free parking."

He said Fife Council officers recently met with Rev Rennie in Dunfermline to hear her views "and we continue to listen to the concerns that are being raised on this issue”. 

“More broadly, we recognise the challenges our towns across Fife are facing and that different solutions may be required, which is why we  have been working with the Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline and St Andrew’s BID companies to understand their concerns and to look at options for improving parking within these areas.

"The Kirkcaldy pilot, funded by the area committee, is up and running and we have recently met with Dunfermline and St Andrews BIDS to hear their views and review options with them."