A MOVE to make car parking charges in Christchurch more appealing for shoppers has been a success.

The £1 for two hours parking, which was introduced in town centre car parks after a campaign by the Chamber of Trade of Commerce, has proved popular with visitors.

The charge was originally proposed by Christchurch Chamber as a way of encouraging shoppers to stay longer in the town to patronise more town centre shops.

A campaign by them urging the council to take up the scheme to boost business was initially turned down due to concern over the risks to the council's income stream.

But a year later it was taken up by the council after a 86 per cent of people polled said they would come to the town more often if the charge was introduced.

The £1 charge applies to Saxon Square, Bank Close, Wick Lane and Bypass (Waitrose) car parks and represented a 60p reduction on the previous rate.

Latest figures from car park revenues for the first quarter of 2015-16, presented to Christchurch Council’s Resources Committee, described the number of motorists buying a two hour ticket increasing by nearly six per cent compared with the same period in the previous year.

Cllr Claire Bath, portfolio holder for the economy at Christchurch council, said: "It would seem that the £1 for two hours tariff has become increasingly popular and we hope that this is encouraging more people to spend more time in the town centre visiting our unique retailers.

"Of course we have to bear in mind that there may be other factors in play, such as the good weather in April which saw the number of motorists using our amenity car parks increase by 25 per cent compared with the same period last year.

"We are pleased that this joint initiative, where the council listened to the local business community and worked with them, will continue to encourage shoppers and visitors to use the £1 for two hours parking in Christchurch."