COUNCILLORS bowed to public pressure on Monday (March 3) and dropped plans for overnight charges in car parks across Somerset.

They also agreed there should be 30 minutes of free on-street parking in towns such as Minehead where they propose to start charging for the first time.

But Somerset Council’s executive decided to press ahead with controversial Sunday car parking charges and to introduce fees in currently free car parks such as in Wiveliscombe, Wellington, Minehead, Blue Anchor, Kilve, and Wheddon Cross.

The council has faced a huge public backlash against the proposed new car parking regime, which it wants to introduce as it tries to avoid becoming bankrupt in the midst of its financial crisis.

Somerset executive Cllr Richard Wilkins, who on Saturday attended a noisy public demonstration in Wiveliscombe, said the proposals would be subject to full public consultation before any final decisions were made.

Cllr Wilkins said the council wanted to ‘bring consistency and fairness’ to its car parking service and ensure it continued to be completely self-funded to cover staffing, serving and administrating penalty notices, and managing and maintaining car parks to a high level.

He said: “We have listened to concerns raised at scrutiny, from the public and businesses.

“We want to give people the flexibility to park for a short time, while at the same time encouraging turnover of spaces for visitors.

“We also want to support businesses when it comes to the nighttime economy.

“However, we have still inherited a parking estate with big differences across the county.

“Is it right that those paying to park in some towns are subsidising free parking in other towns?

“We need to bring fairness and uniformity in parking practice across the county.”

The council is also looking to use ‘surplus’ car parking income to subsidise some services usually funded through council tax bills.