NEWPORT'S council leader has said free parking will not be happening this festive season.

At a full council meeting on Tuesday, November 22, Cllr Jane Mudd said: “Please stop asking me about free parking, because we’re not going to do free parking.

“We said this in scrutiny, and we said this in this chamber, we are not going to do that. But please stop asking because my answer is going to be consistently, no.”

This was the response to the opposition leader, Cllr Matthew Evans who had asked the leader if free parking or free transport would be offered to residents to get people in to the city centre.

Conservative councillor Evans said: “For many traders, it can be make or break as they rely on this time of year to survive.”

He added that the council was “cash rich” and should give residents a bit of “festive cheer”.  Cllr Evans also referenced Monmouthshire County Council’s decision to offer free parking in December.

Cllr Mudd said the council has to be “realistic about the financial situation” and referred to the predicted £33 million overspend.

The leader of the Labour-led council said: “Whilst I would love to subsidise free bus travel, in the way that we’ve been able to do in previous years, I’m afraid that we won’t be able to do that without support from any other agencies this year. So, if Burns Commission, or Transport for Wales, or Welsh Government are listening, we’d happily take their money to ensure that our citizens can access free or subsidised public transport.”