MANCHESTER Airport is scrapping its free drop-off lanes forcing people to pay or use a shuttle bus.

From June, passengers being dropped off at Manchester Airport by car will will be charged £3 for five minutes or £4 for a maximum 10 minutes.

The move comes as bosses attempt to relieve traffic around the area.

The airport is also opening a free off-site drop-off car park on Thorley Lane.

Passengers will be dropped off here before taking a shuttle bus to their terminal.

Regular taxi drivers will be offered a discount while pick-up prices remain the same - £4 for up to 30 minutes in the airport's multi-storey car parks.

Chief operating officer, Tricia Williams, said: "As passenger numbers have grown, we have increasingly experienced major congestion problems on our terminal forecourts, exacerbated by a high percentage of visitors repeatedly re-circulating at peak times.

"The simple fact is our forecourts were not designed to handle the number of vehicles they do today and do not have the capacity to cope with any further growth in the number of people being dropped-off immediately outside our terminals."