MOTORISTS in Chorley are being advised of changes to car parking.

Parts of Friday Street car park will close for several months as Chorley Council looks to create dozens of spaces ahead of building the multi-million pound Market Walk extension.

The authority has decided to get all the car parking sorted before closing part of the Flat Iron for the extension. Cllr Alistair Bradley, leader of the council, said: “We know availability of car parking is really important so we’ve taken advantage of the delay in constructing the extension to create as many spaces as we can.

“The majority of that work will be in creating an extra level on Friday Street car park but we are also extending Cleveland Street car park and we are creating a staff car park away from the shopping areas meaning we can free up more of the spaces closer to the town centre for shoppers.

“There will inevitably be some disruption while this work takes place but we have been speaking with traders to see how we can keep this to a minimum and we’ve got overwhelming support from the businesses on the Town Team.” Main changes are:

n Parts of Friday Street car park close from 6 June to create an extra level with 96 spaces

n Portland Street car park will be long-stay while Friday Street car park is closed

n The council has temporarily re-opened dozens of spaces on the Flat Iron to accommodate short stay users from Portland Street

n Cleveland Street car park will be closed until the end of July while it is extended.

“The message to everyone is that Chorley is very much still open for business and these changes we are making now will help give our town centre a long term future,” said Councillor Bradley.

“The car parking changes will enable us to build the extension which will broaden the appeal of the town centre bringing a cinema, restaurants and new retailers to the town centre, complementing the excellent independent offer we already have; create hundreds of new jobs; and generate hundreds of thousands of pounds of income that will be re-invested into Chorley helping us to keep council tax rises to a minimum.

“We know not everyone likes change but the biggest threat to our town centre is if we do nothing and these developments give us an affordable way of investing in Chorley’s future.

“We’ve already seen the positive impact the youth zone as had as people have been blown away by the facilities and the improvements to the town centre will give another boost that will see us attract new visitors and give all businesses in the town centre a much-needed boost.”

More detail on what’s happening can be found by searching ‘Chorley town centre’ at chorley.gov.uk