Free parking in Banbury this weekend to support small businesses

Cherwell District Council will be encouraging shoppers to stay local by waiving normal parking fees at its car parks in Banbury and Bicester for the annual, global campaign.

Lead member for estates and economy Cllr Lynn Pratt said: “Banbury and Bicester are already vibrant hubs of commerce with high footfalls, but it is not possible to provide public car parking for free all year round.

“We hope by making parking free on one of the busiest shopping days of the year it will encourage people to visit the town centre and check if they can get it from a local retailer before they buy.”

Residents are being urged to support all types of businesses, online, in offices and in shops on Saturday (December 2).

In 2016, consumers spent £717m with small businesses during Small Business Saturday, an increase of 15 per cent on 2015.

Last year the global campaign also resulted in 140,000 tweets which reached 130m people.

Small business owners can sign up to the campaign’s Small Business Finder and are encouraged to tag the council in any social media posts which will be shared and retweeted.

For a directory of shops and services in Cherwell click here.

Signs will be displayed at the entrance to participating car parks and at ticket machines in Banbury and Bicester, advertising free parking on Saturday.

Car parking charges currently apply in Cherwell’s Banbury and Bicester car parks between 8am and 7pm.

There is no charge to park in Kidlington car parks as these are covered by a covenant preventing fees being introduced.

As it is not a car park, the Bridge Street drop off point in Banbury will not be included in the promotion.

For more information on Cherwell car parks including details of participating car parks visit www.cherwell.gov.uk/carparks.