NEW parking charges will be introduced at a council owned car park which is currently free to park in.

Visitors to The Twitchell car park in Baldock will incur charges as of July 2 after North Herts District Council (NHDC) decided to do away with free parking.

Cllr Tom Brindley, NHDC’s portfolio holder for planning and enterprise, said: “In order to ensure this car park is available for shoppers, and is not clogged by commuters, we have to set a limit on length of stay. The new charges will cover the cost of enforcing that limit. The charge is set very low to encourage use by shoppers while excluding commuters, who should be using the station car parks.”

Parking charges at the 50 spaced car park will be: up to three hours 50p and over three hours �1. The maximum time people will be able to park for will be 10 hours for any one day stay during the charging hours. Parking permits for 12 months will cost �250 while permits for six months will cost �150. The charges will apply between 8am and 6pm Monday to Saturday. Parking on bank holidays and Sundays will be free.

Baldock town centre manager, Murray Fastier, said: “Although the car park charges won’t affect business in the town centre it will penalise those people who work in the town as parking on the High Street is limited to two hours only.”

John West, owner of Baldock Hardware Store, said: “NHDC need to think about the impact it will have on business owners and the people coming into work. Currently we are playing a cat and mouse game with the traffic wardens. What they need to do is to issue free parking permits for workers to encourage business in the town.”