PARKING charges in Craven car parks will remain unchanged as the district slowly recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

There will be no increase in the cost of parking in Craven District Council car parks from the start of the financial year in April, because of the ongoing coronavirus situation, councillors have agreed.

A report to the authority's Policy Committee stated in the second quarter of this year, from July to September, in the period when most coronavirus restrictions in England were lifted, pay and display income was £483,020.

It was £122, 745 higher than the first quarter and £57,263 up on the same period in 2020.

The report said that Cavendish Street car park had been released back to the council in the middle of May after previously being used as a Covid testing centre. Income was expected to increase, when testing

It continued to provide temporary testing facilities for the NHS and in August was generating about 95 per cent of what it generated in August, 2020.

Income from parking permits issued by the council was £19,397, up £1,571, and remained low as a result of people working from home more.

It was, said the report, a situation that the council expects to remain the same in the short term.