At long last '“ good news for drivers

The fees which motorists pay to stay in locations such as the Fitzleet multi-storey and the Hothamton and Regis Centre sites are being held by Arun District Council.

Car parks in more outlying areas such as Culver Road in Felpham and Aldwick's West Park are also being kept at their present level.

This is the first time in at least 20 years councillors have decided against hiking the fees on April 1.

The decision to go against that trend was welcomed by Bognor Regis Chamber of Commerce.

Its secretary, Stephanie Bayley, said: 'This is really good news. I'm sure this will please a lot of businesses and people in the town.

'It will help to encourage people to keep coming into the town centre.

'At least they will not be put off by the type of horrendous increases we had last year.'

An Arun spokesman said: 'We are not currently looking at increasing prices so there will be no changes from April.

'Prices will be reviewed later in the year but there are no firm proposals at the moment.'

The council's usual policy has been to increase certain categories of fees, either in the short- or long-stay sites, each year while leaving others unchanged.

Last year saw the charges rise by ten per cent to the anger of the chamber and motorists.

This led to fears the ever-rising cost of motorists visiting Bognor would harm the town centre and the regeneration hopes.

The steepest rise affected the multi-storey car park off Queensway.

Stays of up to two hours went up from 50p to 55p, by 15p to 1.65 for three hours and by 20p to 2.20 for up to four hours. Longer periods stayed unchanged.

Town centre workers who buy an annual permit for one of the 387 spaces saw their cost rise from 82 to 90.

Prices in the Hothamton and Regis Centre car parks went up by nine per cent. Current charges include 65p for the shortest stays and 6 for all-day parking.