SHOPPERS coming to Bury's revamped market will now have three hours' parking for the price of two.

Councillors have approved a trial scheme to offer reduced rates on the Market car park in a bid to attract more people and get them to stay longer.

The £5 million refurbishment of the town's historic market should be completed by the autumn, and naturally the local authority is keen to encourage more visitors. It has recently built coach-only bays on Market Street.

The scheme will run for six months from September 6, 1999 to March next year. Motorists will be allowed to stay for up to three hours for the price of two, currently 60p. The move will cost the council £12,500 in lost revenue. While he welcomed the idea, Tory group leader David Higgin told Tuesday's executive committee meeting that it didn't go far enough.

"I would support this even more if it applied to all the car parks," he said. "This park is going to get full up first because it's cheaper, and people who really want to go to the market will have to park hundreds of yards away."

But council leader Derek Boden said that measures to make the town centre "user-friendly", for instance short-term parking, had been extremely successful.

He added: "We've done as much as we could do to assist the relaunch of the market without having wardens quizzing people coming into the town, asking whether they are shopping on the market and if not to go back to Manchester or wherever."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.