MOTORISTS will be able to save some cash when free parking is introduced in one of Northallerton’s town centre car parks next month.

Charges to stay one hour in the short stay section of the Applegarth car park are to be dropped from October 1.

Hambleton District Council’s cabinet has agreed to make parking for the first hour free in the 148 short-stay spaces at the front of the car park. The second hour will be 60p.

It follows concerns from traders, local people and visitors about the cost of parking in the town, following the introduction of charging on the town’s High Street earlier this year by North Yorkshire County Council.

“We have listened to the motorists as well as the traders who tell us that charges are a deterrent to shoppers,” said the authority’s deputy leader, Cllr Peter Wilkinson.

“We have acted to help redress this situation and hope that this – coupled with free parking Thursdays throughout December in all Hambleton District Council’s car parks in the run up to Christmas – will help boost the economy of the town. “

The expected cost of the free parking will be £95,000, which will be met by the authority’s economic development fund.

The proposal will undergo a statutory 28-day consultation period before being brought into operation in October.