A PROPOSAL to make two car parks in Haverfordwest free to use is unlikely to happen after it was turned down by a Pembrokeshire council committee.

Charges were introduced to the Rifleman Field and St Thomas’ Green car parks in Haverfordwest as part of a rollout of new parking fees across the county in February 2016.

In a letter sent to Pembrokeshire County Council’s services overview and scrutiny committee meeting, Councillor Thomas Tudor argued the fees have led shoppers visiting the south of the town to park on residential roads while the two car parks remain under-used.

But the committee voted against his plan to abolish the fees in the two car parks, with Councillor Brian Hall arguing it was unfair to abolish fees on certain car parks but not others.

“I would not support this in any form or way unless every car park in the county is free,” he said.

A report presented to the committee showed that ticket sales at St Thomas Green car park were down from 40,798 between January and July 2016, to 38,623 between the same months this year.

But Darren Thomas, head of Highways and Construction argued these figures were too short term to show whether the decrease in ticket sales showed a pattern.

“It is difficult to discern trends when we are looking at just two years,” he said.

Cllr Tim Evans said many residents living near the car parks have issues with shoppers and workers leaving vehicles on their streets rather than paying for parking.

He said: “There is a big issue with displacement of vehicles in the top end of town, and unless you live in that area on a day-to-day basis you will not understand what people are going through.”

Mr Thomas said the Highways department had reduced the 24-hour tariff in the car parks to 80p to encourage more people to use them to park during working hours.

In his letter to the committee, Cllr Tudor also raised the issue of the impact the parking fees could have had on local businesses, as there were shoppers who had been put off from spending 40p on an hour’s parking just to pick up a prescription from one of the pharmacies near St Thomas’ Green.

Mr Thomas said Highways had tried to prevent this by introducing ‘pop and shop’ bays providing 30 minutes free parking.

Following the meeting Cllr Tudor said he was dissappointed his motion of notice was not supported but welcomed a review into extending residents' permits as part of a full review of the Rifleman Field car park.