Motorists in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse can park for free in district council car parks on selected days in the run up to Christmas.
The annual free parking tradition is provided by South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils to encourage people to shop locally for their Christmas presents. The free parking days allocated to each area are agreed with the individual town councils depending on which day would best suit local traders.
Free Christmas parking days also means people don’t have to pay to park if they wish to catch up with friends and family in the great pubs, cafés and restaurants found across southern Oxfordshire’s towns during the festive period.
Drivers will be able to park for free in South and Vale car parks on the following days up to 24 December:
- Abingdon – Saturdays from 2 December
- Didcot – Fridays from 1 December
- Faringdon – Saturdays from 2 December
- Goring – Tuesdays and Saturdays from 28 November
- Henley – Tuesdays from 5 December
- Thame – Saturdays from 2 December
- Wallingford – Thursdays from 30 November
- Wantage – Fridays from 1 November.
On the above days there’s no need to display a ticket.
Cllr Tony Harbour, Cabinet Member for Technical Services at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Free parking days give people that extra incentive to spend more time in their local shopping area and also helps to encourage visitors from elsewhere.
“We already offer periods of free parking at certain times in our car parks however we are keen for people to visit our local independent shops and make the most of their nearest town centre in the run up to Christmas.”
Cllr Eric Batts, Cabinet Member for Technical Services at Vale of White Horse District Council said: “We have a great selection of independent shops offering very different and original gifts which would make the perfect Christmas present. We already offer two hours free parking each day but in the run up to Christmas we want to make it even easier for people to shop locally.
“In Abingdon we will also be opening the Charter multi-storey cark park on Sundays so there’s more parking available in the town centre – this will initially be run on a trial period during December until Christmas.”
For details on parking in southern Oxfordshire visit southoxon.gov.uk/parking or whitehorsedc.gov.uk/parking.
