THE Forest of Dean District Council voted last Thursday to suspend car parking charges – but only on Saturdays up until Christmas and, hopefully, for the switch on of the Christmas lights.

"Parking will be free in the District Council's car parks every Saturday in the run up to Christmas from November 24," the council says in a statement.

"The Forest of Dean District Council is working with the Town Councils so parking is also free for visitors coming to the Christmas light switch-ons."

But campaigners who have fought against the car parking charges being imposed on shoppers have lashed out, branding the free parking move as a "cynical ploy to try and distract people from the true plight of our local retailers."

Ginnie Blakey of the HOOT (Hands Off Our Towns) campaign told the Review: "This isn't really going to help all that much. The local retailers lost the Saturday trade to Gloucester, Monmouth and Hereford not long after the parking charges came in – it would be very hard for them to get that back."

Meanwhile, Monmouth­shire County Council have again suspended their car parking fees in Abergavenny, Chepstow and Monmouth, as they have for the past two years.

Cllr Bryan Jones, cabiinet member for County Operations, said: "Free parking was such a success over the past two years that it's right to repeat it. It did cost the council around £17,000 in lost revenue but of course our towns benefited enormously from increased custom in shops and restaurants."