WARRINGTON Borough Council has suspended parking charges on all council-owned car parks because of the COVID-19 situation – thanks to Warrington-Worldwide readers.
Numerous readers of this website contacted us to complain that using ticket machines posed an additional risk to the public – and that parking wardens were wasting time and money patrolling near-empty car parks.
As a result we contacted the council and today – six days later – a council spokesperson said: “In these difficult times, it is important for all of us to fully support NHS, social care and key workers. As part of this, from today we will be suspending parking charges on all council owned car parks across Warrington, including the Time Square multi-storey car park. As such, no users of the council owned car parks will need to pay for the duration of their parking stay.”
Over a period of several days, a number of Warrington-Worldwide readers contacted us about the issue – particularly after Warrington and Halton NHS Hospitals Trust announced that charges were being suspended on the car parks at Warrington Hospital and Halton Hospital.
The main complaint was about the risk of picking up the virus from using ticket machines. Some readers pointed out that some supermarkets had stopped using cash-out and vending machines for this reason.
Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Marks, speaking before the council decided to suspend charging, said: “It is absurd to continue charging to use car parks which are almost empty. The council should follow the example of the NHS. It is simply not right to expose drivers to an additional risk, no matter how small , for the sake of a few pounds.
“I have seen a number of car parks with hardly any cars using them.”
The council spokesperson said: “It’s important to address that a number of our staff have been verbally abused in the past week. Though we realise the current climate is trying, we will not tolerate any abuse of our staff enforcing parking regulations on our car parks and on the road network. Our staff carry out a crucial role, ensuring that vehicles are not parked in a dangerous or obstructive manner.
“Their role is especially important now, to ensure our highways remain safe and that emergency services and NHS workers are able to quickly and safely move through the borough.
“Please note when using Time Square car park, users will still need to take a ticket upon arrival and get their tickets validated when exiting at one of the ticket machines located in the car park entrance. However, the machines will be programmed to give ‘free parking’. Please also be aware that some council owned car parks may have amended opening hours during the coronavirus outbreak.”
