Free waiting in Saltaire public car parks is set to end as part of a drive to make parking easier for shoppers and tourists.

Bradford Council is proposing to make the Caroline Street and Exhibition Road car parks the most expensive in the district for long-stays by charging £3 in a bid to discourage all-day parking.

But for short stays, the car parks will be the cheapest around - with a charge of just 20p an hour for up to five hours.

It is hoped the policy will boost tourism and trade by making parking easier.

At the moment there is no charge for using the two sites and no limit on how long vehicles can be left there.

The Council has drawn up plans to turn the car parks into short-stay pay and display facilities, with a total of 59 spaces, following complaints about commuters and people working in the historic village leaving their cars there all day.

Members of the Council's highways sub-committee, which meets tomorrow afternoon, are being asked to approve plans to prepare and advertise an order to introduce pay and display.

The charges, backed by the multi-agency Saltaire Project Team, would operate between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday, with a 20p charge for up to an hour's parking.

The charges would rise by 20p for every additional hour up to five hours, which would cost £1, but drivers wishing to park for longer than that would have to fork out £3 a ticket.

Anne Heald, manager of Saltaire Tourist Information Centre and secretary of Saltaire Traders Association, said: "It's a really good idea - people expect to pay for parking these days and I don't think shoppers or tourists will object to paying 20p an hour but I do wonder whether £3 is enough to put people off parking there all day.''

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