Big Drop In Car Park Usage In Market Harborough & Lutterworth

There has been a big drop in people using car parks in Market Harborough and Lutterworth town centres.

Pay and display transactions are down by around 20,000 a month compared to before the pandemic and income from car parks this year is set to be £250,000 less than what Harborough District Council budgeted for.

A change in behaviour since Covid is being blamed for the reduction, with more people working from home and shoppers not travelling into town centres as often.

Commons car park in Market Harborough

Before 2020, between 83,000 and 88,000 pay and display tickets were sold monthly and this year that has dropped to between 60,000 and 65,000.

The Council had predicted a drop in car park usage, but not by as much and has now launched a review of its parking provision, as it looks at how to best to deal with the reduction and plan for future parking provision.

Cllr Phil King, Leader of the District Council, spoke to HFM: