MORE people are visiting Tewkesbury and Winchcombe for longer, according to the latest car park ticket sales.

Figures show that since Tewkesbury Borough Council introduced a new car parking strategy in April, there has been a 150 per cent increase in the number of over three hour tickets sold.

In addition, over the same period there has been a six per cent increase in ticket sales overall, which indicates that the two market towns are enjoying a busier year compared to last year.

The borough council’s new strategy introduced the new charges of £1 for one hour, £2 for up to three hours and £4 for over three hours. This replaced the older pricing structure of £2 for two hours, £3.50 for three hours, £5 for four hours and £8 for over four hours - meaning anyone staying in the town centres for longer than two hours now finds it cheaper to do so.

The figures are a welcome result for the borough council, which hoped the new strategy would encourage visitors and shoppers to support local businesses by spending longer in the two towns.

Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Lead Member for Economic Development Cllr Rob Bird said: “'Our objective was to help local businesses in our two stunning market towns, by encouraging people to visit and stay longer, through cheaper and simpler parking charges. These early figures indicate some success, and are excellent news for the economies of Tewkesbury and Winchcombe. We are continuing to work on other elements of our parking strategy, including new signage and mobile phone payments, and we hope to introduce these later on in the year.”

While car park ticket sales are strong, the two towns continue to have a good level of parking available to support the demand.