Christmas shopping boost as free parking to be re-introduced in Wakefield for rest of 2020

Charges will be scrapped from this Thursday October 1 until January 18 next year, meaning Christmas shoppers will have more money in their pockets.

The council's leader, Coun Denise Jeffery, said the move would help protect jobs and support local high streets.

It follows a motion put forward by the authority's Conservative opposition leader Nadeem Ahmed, which was due to be debated by councillors this Wednesday.

All public car parks in the district were free for all drivers between late March and July 6 this year.

Charges were initially only scrapped for key workers but the scheme was later extended.

In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, council leader Denise Jeffery said: "We are delighted to be able to offer free parking to residents and visitors to the district.

"We want to do all we can to support people to come and enjoy our vibrant city and town centres, in a way that keeps themselves and other safe by following all the latest government advice.

"As we continue to steer our district’s recovery from Covid-19, it is very important that we all play our part in supporting local shops and businesses to thrive and survive – particularly as the Christmas period is a vitally important time of the year to them.

"Today’s announcement will help to protect jobs in our district and support our local economy to recover."

The council said the issue was debated at its coronavirus recovery board on Monday afternoon.

The free parking does not apply to privately run car parks.

Local Democracy Reporting Service