Visitors to town centre car parks in North Lincolnshire have saved almost £20m thanks to a two-hour free parking policy introduced by North Lincolnshire Council in 2014.
More than 13 million free tickets have been issued during this time – which is on top of the addition of free all day parking Saturdays and Sundays.
Cllr Rob Waltham, leader, North Lincolnshire Council, said: “The high street has been radically changed forever but there remain many fantastic markets and retailers in towns and villages across the area and where we can support them, we will.
“This flagship policy makes our towns centres more attractive to visit and we are committed to ensuring we continue this support – we kept our promise on this which will ill keep people coming into our towns and villages.”
It comes as the council’s cabinet team will discuss a paper next Monday.
Cllr John Davison, cabinet member for safer, stronger communities (urban) pledged to continue the scheme to support local retail businesses.
Cllr Davison said: “North Lincolnshire Council recognised years ago that our town centres faced challenges, not least from online. At the time the majority of councils were actually raising car park charges. We decided to do something radical and remove them.
“More than nine out of ten visitors now do not pay for parking.
“We know the cost of parking can deter shoppers, so the council is pledging to continue free car parking to help support our towns.”
