PARKING regulations in a Blackburn street are set to be relaxed after a backlash from traders.

Bosses at Floorz ‘n’ Doorz, of Vernon Street, off Mincing Lane, reacted furiously when council chiefs introduced parking charges when previously the first hour was free with a ticket.

Now Blackburn with Darwen Council has been forced into a climbdown and has told parking wardens not to ticket vehicles for the first hour they are parked.

Floorz ‘n’ Doorz owner Kass Bhojani moved his business to Vernon Street from Whalley Range only weeks before the change was introduced in May, prompting the complaints.

He said: “The charging came in just after we moved in and the free parking was part of the reason we switched from Whalley Range.

“Since it changed, there has been a big difference in the number of people coming in because clearly people don’t want to pay just to come in and look around.

“We are pleased the council looks to have listened to our concerns but it should not have come to that.

“As it was, we feared going out of business.”

Mr Bhojani, 48, who runs Floorz ‘n’ Doorz with trading partner Macky Sheikh, said other businesses in Vernon Street were behind their fight.

Dave Harling, of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said parking income was important to the town hall, especially with funding cuts.

He said: “Clearly we don’t want to put companies out of business.

“It will take a few weeks to change Vernon Street back to free parking.

“In the meantime, we have instructed our enforcement officers not to ticket cars in the first hour.”