FREE Christmas parking being scrapped in Worcester is due to the council needing to close its funding gap. 

Worcester City Council has hit back after being called The Grinch over deciding to get rid of its Christmas parking and the free bus scheme it introduced for a day last year.

The council revealed last month it had to close in on a £2.5 million savings target to help reduce a worrying hole in its budget.

Councillor Mel Allcott, deputy mayor, said the comments made by Marc Baylis, the conservative parliamentary candidate for Worcester, were unconstructive and did not address the real issues the council is facing.

"We have had to make voluntary reductions so we are in no position to provide free parking. 

"A lot of really great staff had to go (to help fill the funding gap), and that is a decision no one took lightly.

"Car parks are being monitored and they are still being used."

The council choosing not to run its festive free car parking scheme has saved it £17,000.

Mr Bayliss had argued that, for over a decade, the council had offered the free service and made the jibe saying the authority has failed to show a "good festive spirit". 

"For well over a decade, the council has offered this support to local people and retailers for whom Christmas is such an important period," he said.

"Last year, the council provided a day of free bus travel instead, but they have also withdrawn that now.

"The city council make over £3m annually from parking and doing this would be a very modest show of support for local residents."

In a bid to close the hole in its budget, the council put forward a ‘draft’ voluntary redundancy scheme, which would currently save around £448,000.

They also had to introduce an entrance fee for the previously free Worcester Show, a steep rise in the cost of hiring an allotment, and a reduction in the operating hours of fountains in Cripplegate Park and South Quay next to the River Severn.

Previously, Councillor Lynn Denham, joint leader of Worcester City Council, said the cost-cutting measures had shown a “firm determination” to get the council’s finances in order but warned of further financial challenges.

The tradition of Worcester City Council offering free festive parking ended last Christmas, with councillors narrowly voting to replace it with a complimentary bus service for one day in December.