Plans to boost Christmas shopping by cutting parking charges have been criticised for catching out unwitting motorists.

Since December 1, Merton Council has reduced parking charges by five pence at two of its four Wimbledon town centre car parks to encourage people to shop locally during Christmas and the January sales.

But Clare Desmond, who had parked in the Russell Road car park off Wimbledon Broadway, received a parking ticket after misunderstanding the temporary parking rules.

She said the council sign placed in the car park was misleading because, in her view, it indicated she could pay 50p to park for four hours.

In fact, the sign says you have pay 50p for every half-hour, for a maximum of four hours. The normal rate is 55p for half an hour.

Ms Desmond, who lives in Kingston, said: “The sign was misleading and the council must change it to make it clearer what people actually have to pay.

“I was concerned other people could be affected by this because you can imagine it’s an easy mistake to make.”

The council has also cut the cost of parking at Hartfield Road to the rear of Morrison’s supermarket car park by 5p to 75p for half an hour until January 31.

Deputy leader Councillor Mark Betteridge said: “These reduced charges are clearly displayed for all visitors on the car park tariff boards.

“We hope the lower charges will encourage more people from across south-west London to come and do their Christmas shopping in Wimbledon town centre, providing a boost to Merton’s economy during this difficult time.”

There were 27 fines issued for expired pay and display tickets since December 1 in the Russell Road car park, which the council said was similar to the numbers from the last few years during the same period.

Merton Council, who also issued eight fines to motorists in the Broadway car park between December 1 and 5, said they would not change the wording on the temporary sign.


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