Leeds council chiefs have lost the plot over parking fees say traders

Almost 650 people have now signed an online petition against the move,

The campaign is being led by a group of independent businesses in Leeds. Traders want city bosses to delay the charges - set to come into force on November 18 - until they have properly assessed the potential impact on the city centre economy. They say a previous consultation exercise - which saw 65 per cent of respondents reject the plans anyway - did not go far enough.

Peter Connolly, managing director of 46, The Calls, who is spearheading the campaign, said: “We are extremely concerned about these imminent parking charges and the impact that it will have on the city’s independent restaurants and retailers. We are annoyed that the council chose to ignore the results of its own consultation that showed the majority of people are against the charges”.

A spokeswoman for Leeds City Council said: “We do understand that charging for something that was previously free was never going to be popular, but we were faced with finding a delicate balance between managing the increasing demand for parking alongside the need to keep traffic and the economy moving and encouraging people to make the most of public transport.” She insisted the consultation was “very useful” and the council “took the feedback into account”. Coun Andrew Carter, opposition Conservative group leader, said: “It’s hard not to think the council has completely lost the plot on this.”