A TEST Valley community leader has revealed car parking charges will remain suspended until "at least June 1" amid the coronavirus crisis.
Now deputy leader of Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC), cllr Nick Adams-King, has announced drivers will not have to pay a penny for parking after Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, unveiled his plan for steering Britain out of the pandemic on Monday night.
This comes after it was estimated six weeks of lockdown could have cost TVBC £228,155 after the authority calculated their income each month from parking totalled £167,500.
READ: Coronavirus lockdown costs thousands of pounds in car parking charges for TVBC >>>
Cllr Adams-King said: "We have agreed to extend the free parking until at least Monday, June 1, and those with season tickets will have their ticket extended by a period equivalent to the eventual free parking period.
"It is a big issue in Andover and Romsey because people who buy a parking permit to park in Test Valley car parks do it on an annual basis."
Cllr Alan Dowden, who represents Valley Park on the borough council, said: "It is something I support because people are up against it at the moment and if they want to go for a walk where they have to park somewhere it would be wrong to charge them for that privilege.
"People are under a lot of stress and the last thing we want is to add extra strain to that, because everyone is getting fed up of being indoors.
"I am hoping it won't take too long to get a vaccine mass produced to get things back to normal, but sadly I don't think that will happen quickly."
The council has also agreed to provide a partial refund to Andover College to pass on to students who have paid for season tickets, as they are only valid for the academic year and there is no option to extend them.
The authority will be writing to all season ticket holders to advise them of the changes.
As previously reported in the Romsey Advertiser, Mr Adams-King confirmed the prices will return after lockdown has finished, but said there may be changes due to Hampshire County Council taking over responsibilities.
READ: Car parking fees scrapped in Test Valley after lockdown begins >>>
On March 25, TVBC decided to suspend all car parking charges, which was then extended until April 16.
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