PARKING charges will be slashed by Liverpool Council in a bid to encourage more people into the city centre.

The cost of on-street parking will be reduced by 9% while the price for parking all day at Mount Pleasant car park will be almost halved from £7 to £4.

The council will also change some restrictions, raising the maximum stay in on-street bays from two hours to four hours.

Parking for up to four hours on city centre streets will cost £5, undercutting private car parks like Liverpool One’s Q-Park and the facility at St John’s Centre, which charge £9 and £6.40 respectively for the same amount of time.

Cllr Tim Moore, cabinet member for transport, said: “We think motorists will really welcome these proposals, which will see the cost of parking at city centre pay-and-display bays reduced for the first time in many years.

“And I am sure increasing maximum parking times will also prove popular with visitors, shoppers and businesses.

“This is an important part of our wider review into how parking operates in this city and we will be consulting on a range of further changes in the coming months which will help us deliver a system which is fairer, better run and more efficient.”

The changes are set to be introduced in November and are part of a city-wide review into parking, with further changes to be announced soon.

Council opposition leader Cllr Richard Kemp said: “Since Liverpool One opened the centre of gravity in the city centre has moved.

“I am very comfortable with these changes – the market has changed.”

In January it was revealed the council had lost up to £1m of income from parking charges during the slump in the economy over the previous 12 months.

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