Express & Star

Beat the meters - park for free!

There are still some places in our towns and cities where you can park legally for free. Mark Andrews finds out where.

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There are still some places in our towns and cities where you can park legally for free.

Mark Andrews

finds out where.

There doesn't seem to be much fun in motoring these days. Sky-high petrol duty, talk of huge increases in road tax, and the possible introduction of congestion charges or road pricing.

To add to the misery, the Merry Hill centre recently announced it will be charging for car parking, while pay-and-display machines are being installed at one of Wolverhampton's few remaining free car parks.

As a privately owned shopping centre, Merry Hill is quite within its rights to charge, but with the average household paying more than £100 a month in council tax, can local councils really justify charging people to park in their own town?

Instead of dreaming up "bold and imaginative" regeneration strategies, councils might stand a better chance of rejuvenating our towns and cities by making our car parks more attractive to the motorist.

People might be willing to pay for extra security in a car park, but most council car parks use the much-despised pay and display machines where you are expected to predict the length of your stay, and be pounced on by wardens should you be delayed.

To help you beat the charges the Express & Star has toured the towns of the West Midlands to compile a guide on where you can park without paying through the nose.

It is also interesting to find how some towns are much more car-friendly than others.

In Wolverhampton, for instance, there is still some free parking as long as you don't mind walking a short distance. There is - for the time being - free all-day parking at the Oxford Street car park, although this is set to end soon. There are also a limited number of spaces off Walsall Street near Middle Cross, although you will need to get there early in the morning to be sure of a space.

Free short-stay on-street car parking is available in Cleveland Street, Vicarage Road and Powlett Street. On the opposite side of the city there is free all-day parking around West Park, as well as short stay on-street parking in Molineux Street, Camp Street and Red Hill Street.

Unfortunately, most of Wolverhampton's on-street parking inside the ring road is pay-and-display short stay only, policed by the new privatised traffic wardens. This week the council announced it would be getting rid of its few manned car parks.

On the whole, Wolverhampton's free parking provision is reasonable, although you will have to cross the ring road - usually through a subway - to take advantage.

In Dudley, all council car parks offered free parking until pay-and-display charges were controversially introduced in 1993. The council does take a more enlightened approach than some of its neighbours, though, opening up its staff and members' car parks to provide free parking at weekends and evenings.

There is also all-day free on-street parking in Pitfield Street and Greystone Street, surrounding what must be the Black Country's most bizarre car park, giving motorists a choice between free on-street parking, or a pay-and-display car park a few feet away.

On the whole, Dudley is top of the free parking league, but the pay-and-display machines really do need to be lifted from the Pitfield Street car park, which rarely seems to be occupied by more than a dozen cars.

Dudley Council's parking policy also applies in Stourbridge, so there is an hour's free parking in High Street, Market Street and Lower High Street, although you will do well to find a space at busy times.

A short walk from the town, there are a small number of all-day free spaces in Green Street, although you will need to get there early. If you are wondering whether it is worth the bother of hunting out the free spaces, the state of Bell Street multi-storey car park should be incentive enough.

There is plenty of free parking in Walsall's town centre, but most of it is subject to a one-hour limit during the daytime. The most convenient locations are probably Freer Street and Goodall Street.

There are spaces in Arboretum Road where shoppers can park for up to two hours, but it is a bit of a trek.

Free parking spaces in West Bromwich are few and far between. There are a small number in Carters Green, but you can only park for one hour. One or two of the side streets in the town also offer an hour's free parking, but check first - virtually all of the town's on-street parking is subject to pay-and-display charges, as are all the council's car parks.

In Kidderminster, there is an hour's free on-street parking in most town centre roads, while you can park all day for nothing in the lay-by in Stowe Road, Lichfield - although again, you must get there early.

What this investigation did reveal is that the free parking is out there, if you are prepared to look for it. The Express & Star certainly does not condone irresponsible parking, and all motorists should take care not to cause an obstruction and always show consideration for other people.

But it is certainly worth the effort. Supposing you work in Wolverhampton city centre, and pay £3.90 a day to park on the pay-and-display car park in Fryer Street. For the sake of a little exercise, you can save £916.50 a year in parking fees, as well as cutting congestion in the city centre.

Use this guide, and you may never need to pay for car parking again.

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