AN MP claims town centre traders have been left “high and dry” by a council executive decision to push ahead with cuts to car parking concessions.

Middlesbrough Borough Council is to end two hours free parking at the Zetland and Station Street car parks, although the offer will continue at the Captain Cook multi-storey.

The changes came about after the Labour-run local authority commissioned an indepedent review and have already drawn criticism from the likes of Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen.

Fellow Tory Simon Clarke, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, told The Northern Echo: “With competition from both retail parks and online shopping, the traditional high street needs all the help it can get, yet Labour are leaving it high and dry.

“Most people in Middlesbrough will find it incomprehensible that the council have confirmed their decision to go down this route, despite widespread criticism.

“Rather than reducing free parking, I would far rather our council was following Darlington’s lead and increasing it.”

Darlington Borough Council recently approved a £120,000 scheme to offer two hours free car parking at seven car parks in a bid to reinvigorate its town centre

A similar scheme in Middlesbrough was first introduced by former mayor Ray Mallon.

The council intends the Zetland to be used by commuters and to promote Captain Cook for shoppers.

The Zetland will now offer ten hours parking for £2, while motorists will only be charged when they leave.

One motorist said: “The challenge is to find a parking space in both of these car parks before you worry about what it will cost.

“But town centres need more free car parking, not less.”

Councillor Lewis Young, Middlesbrough Council’s executive member for economic development, said it offered some of the cheapest parking in the Tees Valley.

He said: “Middlesbrough, as the Tees Valley’s economic heart, is a city in all but name and with our city-scale developments due to get underway we need to look at how we work.

“We hope shoppers will welcome the continuation of the two-hour free car parking offer and continue to make good use of it.”