Saturday free parking ends

MOTORIST are being reminded that  free all-day Saturday parking in Rotherham town centre ends this weekend.

From this weekend drivers will have to pay in the town centre’s council-run car parks and on-street parking bays.

The reinstatement of Saturday charges comes after Rotherham Borough Council said they had “exhausted every alternative funding option in an effort to try to resolve the budget gap and continue some form of parking incentive.”

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Rotherham Borough Council’s Cabinet member for town centres, Cllr Richard Russell, said: “The funding we received to pay for free parking incentives was actually cut in July but the authority agreed to find funding of its own to continue free Saturday parking to cover the Christmas period, which we know is so important to local traders.

“Unfortunately, funding to continue the scheme just is not available, especially as other essential services must continue under already reduced budgets.

“From speaking to the owners of businesses in town, we know that free parking has

proved beneficial and we will continue to do our very best to look for ways in which we could continue to fund the scheme in the future.”

The council has vowed to ensure that parking signs are amended to let drivers know of the changes in parking charges.