ON-street parking charges in Shrewsbury will remain the same.

Shropshire Council proposed to increase parking in the town centre by 10p for an hour, 20p for over an hour, and 30p for over an hour-and-a-half.

The u-turn comes after crunch talks between Shropshire Council leader Keith Barrow and traders.

Cllr Barrow said: “I have been speaking to businesses a lot about this issue, particularly in Shrewsbury, and although I don’t think car parking charges are exclusively the reason for the overall drop in trade, I am keen that we do whatever we can to help.

“We are therefore not going to bring in these proposed increases in on-street charges at the current time, because we are listening to what people are telling us.

“I hope people realise we can’t simply remove all charges because we have budget pressures and ultimately will need to find savings elsewhere, but I hope businesses appreciate we’re doing what we can to encourage shoppers into town centres.”

Charges will remain at 80p for up to 30 minutes, £1.70 for up to one hour, £2.40 for up to 90 minutes, and £3 for up to two hours.

Cllr Simon Jones, cabinet member for transport, added: “It has been widely acknowledged that councils are facing massive funding pressures at the moment, and it can’t be denied that income from parking charges would be reinvested in important highways services.

“However, we do appreciate traders are adamant they don’t want any further increases in town centres.

“It’s a difficult balancing act, but on this occasion we feel it’s the right thing to do to keep on-street charges at their current levels for the time being.”