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LOCAL authorities are being urged to rethink their policies of charging excessive parking charges ahead of the local elections in England and Wales.

The Federation of Small Businesses believes charges are killing town centres and has warned that "draconian" town centre parking laws will backfire in the long term, as many high street shops will close.

The FSB is encouraging what it describes as sensible parking policies that will encourage shoppers to use small independent shops on the high street.

Phil Shellam, FSB chairman for Worcestershire, said: "This current trend to raise revenue through car parking charges is simply driving some small businesses to closure. It's absolutely vital we support local businesses, otherwise they will disappear from our high streets."

He added: "Excessive car parking charges are just a short-term solution, which will cause a long-term problem for our towns."

Roger Culcheth, FSB local government chairman, said: "Although parking restrictions can raise a lot of cash in the short term, they can be extremely damaging to local economies and ultimately counter-productive, as shops in town centres begin to close."

9:21am Monday 28th April 2008

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