TRAFFORD'S Conservatives have slammed the council's 'scrooge-like' call to scrap its parking scheme for Christmas.

In previous years, there has been a 'free after three' scheme in car parks and on streets from December to early January.

But this year, as a result of environmental and financial considerations, it has been scrapped.

Cllr James Wright, the executive member for housing and regeneration, offered a detailed explanation of the decision.

He said: "Given the council’s priority to address climate change, we don’t believe it is appropriate to carry on with a scheme that encourages residents to drive into our town centres rather than using sustainable transport.

"In addition, the scheme costs the council £50,000 to £75,000 per annum in lost income, and given our current budget challenge we simply can’t afford this."

Responding to the decision, Cllr Daniel Chalkin, Cllr Wright's counterpart for the Conservatives, said it was 'the nightmare before Christmas' for businesses.

He said: "It's unbelievable Labour is making our town centres less appealing for residents and visitors in a year when many high street businesses are still trying to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

"The excuses for not giving our high streets a helping hand this Christmas are the impact on the environment and the cost of the scheme.

"Shoppers however will likely drive further to the Trafford Centre rather than visiting our high streets, which will have a more detrimental impact on the environment.

"Labour have said they can’t afford to implement the scheme this year as it would cost up to £75,000 in lost income to the council. If Labour can’t find £75,000, then there must be a problem with managing the finances."

Cllr Chalkin drew residents' attention to a petition set up by the Conservatives on traffordconservatives.com/free-after-3.

He said: "I'd encourage anyone affected by these proposals to sign the petition, which will then be presented to Labour to ask them to reverse this scrooge-like decision."