Free Christmas bus travel in Worcester chosen over free parking

Coventry City Council issued fines totalling £431,413.57 between April 2021 and May 2022

Free parking for Christmas shoppers in Worcester has been ditched in favour of a free bus service.

City councillors disagreed over the policy before narrowly voting to scrap the annual parking offer.

Instead, complimentary bus travel will be provided on one Saturday in December on a date yet to be decided, the council said.

Previously shoppers have been able to park for free at certain times in the run-up to Christmas.

"Loose" estimates by financial director Shane Flynn showed the council's car parking income was down by about £15,000 last December because of the free offer, which he said could give some idea of how much it would cost if repeated, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

At the meeting on Tuesday, councillor Marc Bayliss, leader of the city council, said Christmas was the most important time for businesses and the city needed to continue offering free parking to attract as many people as possible.

But city mayor Adrian Gregson disagreed saying it was "disingenuous" to suggest that free parking would always be offered, and the council should be confident it no longer needed to offer free parking as a way of attracting people to the city.

Council officials will report back on what Saturday the free service will be offered, the council said.