Introducing car park charges in Pendle would ruin Colne town centre’s shopping scene which has been carefully nurtured through hard work, councillors have said.

Pendle Council is reviewing arrangements for its off-street car parks which are currently free of charge but can require drivers to display parking discs in windscreens.

Councillors at the latest Colne area committee were asked to join a working group to review car parking and each area.

A council report stated: “Each area has its own car parking requirements.”

Colne has 13 public car parks. Three have short stay disc parking. Three are currently out of action. Parliament Street parking is not being enforced due to works at the market. Colne Lane is due to be a partly short and long stay.

Colne’s largest car park is Dockray Street with 90 bays. This is under-used and could be looked at for long stay or also some business permit spaces. Hawley Street car park has been declared surplus.

Conservative Cllr David Cockburn-Price, area committee chair, said: “We all know Pendle Council would like to charge everybody everywhere. But we need to look at an overall policy while also looking at individual towns.”

Fellow Tory Cllr Kieran McGladdery said: “Any funding gained from car parks in a local area would not be ring-fenced for that area. I don’t want parking charges in Colne.

"However, if revenue was generated from one car park then it should be spent on the upkeep of that site."

Conservative Cllr Neil Butterworth said: “I’m against parking charges, People will just park on side streets instead and cause chaos. There will be arguments. And people will go elsewhere to Burnley or Yorkshire. We’ve worked hard for years to build up Colne. We don’t want charges for parking.

Cllr Sarah Cockburn Price, another Tory, said: “Businesses would fail if parking charges were introduced. The whole area would become dystopian. There is a reason why Sainsbury’s does not charge for parking. People would go elsewhere."