Park and ride plan set to be axed

A similar scheme in Stratford has been criticised for being under-used

Plans for a new multi-million pound park and ride for south Warwickshire are likely to be shelved next week.

The county council said the cost of a new park and ride for Leamington Spa and Warwick could not be justified.

Under the scheme a car park was to be built on land near the M40, with buses taking people to and from the towns.

Project manager Tom Pierpoint said car parking charges in the towns would increase to get people using the scheme but this could hit the towns' economy.

Councillors are expected to shelve the plans at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Mr Pierpoint added: "To force enough people into the park and ride and make the park and ride work we were looking at town centre charges of between £8.50 to £9 per day," he said.

The current maximum charge is £5.50.

'Substantial risk'

The scheme would also have required more parking restrictions in the towns, which could also affect their economies, the council said.

A report into the project said it was understood that the government was to contribute £12.9m of the scheme's predicted cost of £14.8m and the county council would contribute the rest.

But the report warned further work had shown that the scheme "carries a substantial revenue risk" and it recommended that it should not be pursued further.

The report also said that a park and ride service which opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2005 had "not been in line with the original business case" and currently required an annual subsidy of around £300,000.