Worcester News, Worcester Sport, Worcester Leisure - From The Worcester News

Happy Christmas! City offers free car parking

From the Worcester News, first published Tuesday 26th Sep 2006.

FREE car parking is to be brought into Worcester during the run-up to Christmas, providing a major boost to shoppers.

The city council is behind a scheme to encourage people to shop in Worcester by making nine of its 12 car parks free every Thursday night from mid-November onwards.

It will start on Thursday, November 16 and run through to Thursday, December 21 and apply at the car parks except ones in Copenhagen Street, Cornmarket and Providence Street.

The deal, which starts from 6pm each night, will also see the upper floor in St Martin's Gate car park open until 10.30pm - three hours later than usual.

Coun Martin Clarke, cabinet member for urban renaissance, said: "It's good that we can do something to help local businesses in the run up to Christmas.

"It's all about encouraging the local economy and getting people to Worcester."

City centre manager Georgia Smith said it she was confident it would make Thursday night shopping a popular choice between now and Christmas.

The same scheme was tried for the first time last year and is said to have worked well.

She said: "We did the same thing last year and retailers saw good increases in trade. Thursday is a good time to shop because it is not as busy as the average Saturday.

"I had discussions with the council again and they said they'd be happy to see it go ahead. We are hoping it will go even better."

As previously reported in the Worcester News, the council raised prices at its 12 city car parks in July.

Car parks are the second biggest income-generator the authority has - second only to council tax and worth more than £3m every year.

The council is currently reviewing car parking in Worcester and has started a £25,000 study to see if it can find room for extra spaces.

Free parking in the run-up to Christmas is set to be approved when the cabinet meets at Guildhall tonight.

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