THE head of the district's Chamber of Commerce, Barry Scoffin, has voiced his concerns to the Citizen that expensive car parking charges could affect Morecambe tourist trade.

Mr Scoffin argued that prohibitive costs could actually discourage tourists from coming to the resort. He stated: "The charges are going to be £6 a day. They'd probably charge about £30 or £40 a week - a lot of money for a family on holiday."

The charges are for three new car parks on the promenade near Lord Street and Northumberland Street. Two have already opened and one will open later this month.

But council chief engineer Alf Wrigley argued the new car parks would actually attract tourists to the resort. He said: "The car parks were built specifically for short stops and were actually designed to attract more tourists to the resort.

"The car parks costs 60 pence for the first hour and £1.20 for two hours and upwards. There are long stay car parks in Morecambe at £2 a day."

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