Tewkesbury Borough Council will be offering three days of free parking to encourage people to shop safely and locally in the run-up to Christmas.
On the first three Saturdays in December, the council will offer free parking in its car parks in Tewkesbury town and Winchcombe. It is hoped that more people will be enticed into local town centres in the weeks before Christmas to avoid unnecessary travel, help local businesses recover from the effects of the second lockdown and discover a unique festive shopping experience.
In previous years, the borough council has offered two days of free parking in the run-up to Christmas, but this year, recognising the unprecedented difficulties currently faced by local businesses as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the council has added a third free day.
The dates are the same for both Tewkesbury and Winchcombe:
- Saturday 5 December
- Saturday 12 December
- Saturday 19 December
Councillor Robert Vines, lead member for finance and asset management, said: “We want to encourage residents to support their local shops by doing this year’s Christmas shopping near to home. When lockdown ends on 2 December, we hope people will choose to take advantage of the free parking and great range of retailers to buy gifts and festive fare. Our environmental health officers have been working closely with local businesses to help introduce Covid-secure measures to ensure the risks are minimised as much as possible.”