Shropshire Council is to launch a flat rate charge of £1 for an eight-week trial period starting on Saturday, July 22, and running until Sunday, September 9.

The council’s move has been praised by local traders and by the Shrewsbury Shopping Centres whose manager, Kevin Lockwood, said: “This is a very positive move by the council who have been keen to work with retailers in the town.

“We approached the council about this originally and it has been refreshing to find how supportive they have been and how enthusiastic they are about promoting the town to a wide audience.

“We feel this move shows that Shrewsbury as a town is open and welcomes visitors and we believe in will encourage an increase in visitor numbers from which we will all benefit.”

The trail will see drivers able to park for just £1 in the town’s 850-space Raven Meadows multi-storey car park which will be open from 9am until 7pm on Sundays. Parking there for the six hours it is open on Sundays currently costs £6 with the first hour costing £1.50.

In addition the council have agreed that anyone paying to park for one hour in their other pay band display car parks in the town will also be able to stay all day.

Councillor Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for parking, said: “We want to work in partnership with the traders in Shrewsbury and are really pleased to be making this offer to encourage people to come and visit Shrewsbury.

“We hope that with these special rates in our council car parks people will feel relaxed to stay longer and enjoy a day out in the town.”

The move has also been supported by Martin Woodhouse, Manager of Marks and Spencer in the town’s busy Darwin Centre, who said: “It’s an incredibly positive step forward and shows how the council, the retail sector and the town can work as one.

“In the current economic climate this is the right thing to do to encourage people into the town and at a fantastic time to celebrate the nation hosting the Olympics.

“The challenge now is for traders to show their support for the council’s initiative by opening on Sundays and I would ask their customers to encourage them to do so.

“This gives us a real chance to compete with other towns like Telford which already have the £1 charge and if it is successful will give us a chance to maintain this level of charging going forward.

“It gives us the chance to attract visitors from a wider area who might have thought twice about travelling here before and why would you want to visit other towns when you could come to a magnificent medieval town like ours?”

Shrewsbury Town Clerk, Helen Ball said the town council would be supportive of any initiative to increase footfall in the town and to encourage more people to visit.

She said: “This all adds to the vitality of the town and encourages people to use it at different times and to stay for longer and to return.

“I’ve got to applaud the council for listening to the traders and the local business community and showing their willingness to assist us in promoting the town.”

Kevin Lockwood added: “We’re really grateful for the support of the council and the way they have worked in partnership with local businesses to encourage visitors to the town on Sundays.

“Shrewsbury is a wonderful town with so many attractions, one of which is the shopping and the mix of different stores from small independent retailers to household names. Hopefully this will encourage many of the independents to open for the first time.”