Epsom and Ewell Borough Council (EEBC) have scrapped car parking charges until the end of April amid the coronavirus epidemic.

Joining other councils in the region, EEBC said that they had suspended all fees on the car parks they manage in the borough to support residents impacted by the virus and the government's 'lockdown' measures responding to it.

On Wednesday (April 1), a spokesperson for EEBC said:

"Epsom and Ewell Borough Council has suspended charges in most of its car parks until the end of April.

"Town Hall, Hope Lodge and Bourne Hall car parks will be excluded from this arrangement to protect parking for the emergency services, critical workers and volunteers, for whom separate arrangements are in place.

"The changes will come into effect from midnight tonight (1 April) and will be reviewed on a monthly basis.

"All council car parks will remain open during their usual operating hours to ensure residents can undertake essential journeys, including food shopping and visiting pharmacies."

Councillor and former Mayor Neil Dallen, who chairs the council's Environment and Safe Communities Committee, added the following statement:

"We want to support critical workers in their delivery of essential services and removing parking charges in some of our car parks is one way in which we can do this."

Cllr Dallen clarified nonetheless that all non-essential travel should be avoided to help stop the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus.

"It is really important, however, that people continue to follow government instructions about avoiding all unnecessary travel,” he said.