PLANS to trial a controversial parking permit scheme in Stourbridge’s Old Quarter have been shelved after people surveyed overwhelmingly gave the idea the thumbs down.

Dudley Council officers have been totting up the results of a three-week consultation and out of 2041 surveys issued just 712 responses were received .

Of the 35 per cent of people in the area who replied - just 26 per cent of residents were in favour of the scheme being introduced, while 85 per cent said they would not support the plan without a guaranteed parking space.

A staggering 90 per cent of respondents said they would not buy a parking permit priced at £95.

The results mean the scheme, which had been drawn up to help tackle parking problems in the congested side streets, will now not be progressed.

A similar plan for the Russells Hall area of Dudley – aimed at combating parking problems around the hospital – will also not proceed, having met with equal opposition.

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, Dudley’s cabinet member for transportation, said: “This council is committed to listening and responding to its residents and communities and the parking permit consultations demonstrate this once again.

“The council issued the consultations following calls from a number of Stourbridge and Russells Hall residents and their growing concerns about parking in residential streets.

"What we then wanted to do was gauge overall feeling of as many residents as possible who would ultimately be affected by introducing such schemes.

”We have always said the decision about whether parking permit schemes were introduced would lie with the residents. The communities involved have clearly indicated there is little support for parking permit schemes therefore they will not be introduced.

“We will continue to seek alternative measures to mitigate the parking problems. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the consultations.”

In the Russells Hall area, 162 people responded to the survey out of a possible 721.

Although 59 per cent indicated support for the scheme, 86 per cent of residents said they would not support a permit plan without a guaranteed parking space – and an overwhelming 94 per cent were not willing to pay £95 for the privilege of parking outside their homes.

The council says the schemes would only ever have gone ahead on a trial basis if 80 per cent or more of residents in the affected areas were in agreement.

Most respondents indicated the proposed cost of the permit was too high with a number saying traffic calming measures would be preferable.