SHOPPERS and traders appear to have won a change in the controversial disc-parking scheme in Accrington town centre.

Hyndburn Council will next week be recommended to increase the disc-parking maximum stay from two hours to three.

If the full council gives the go-ahead on Tuesday night it is hoped the new three-hour limit will be in place for the peak Christmas trading.

Town centre manager David Brown said: "This is not a climbdown. It is the council responding in a positive way to public opinion."

In a recent council-commissioned survey, more than 63 per cent of those who responded favoured the change.

The limited-stay scheme was introduced four months ago at designated car parks and floors 1 to 4 of the Arndale multi-storey to encourage more people to shop in the town centre.

Office workers hogging spaces all day were shunted to less central parking, freeing the most handy spaces for shoppers to come and go.

But the disc scheme, in which motorists still park for free, has been dogged by difficulties.

Introduction of the scheme was postponed when the council ran out of giveaway discs.

Shopkeepers and store owners also claimed that two hours was not long enough for shoppers and said three hours would be better.

In response to concerns the council commissioned a survey and almost 1,200 questionnaires were filled in by office workers, shopkeepers, market stallholders and shoppers.

Mr Brown said: "The survey was undertaken after the leader of the council, Coun George Slynn, initiated consultation with a representative group of retail owners and managers."

The full findings were discussed by councillors and officers at a special meeting on Tuesday night, which recommended increasing the maximum stay.

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