A car parking initiative by South Somerset District Council (SSDC) which will see shoppers able to park for free after 3:00pm on Tuesdays starts today.

SSDC announced the new parking scheme in its November edition of South Somerset News, a residents’ newsletter delivered to every household in South Somerset. The scheme will help car drivers park in some of the towns in South Somerset and buy local; a boost for local businesses.

The car parking initiative offers free car parking after 3:00pm on Tuesdays between 6th January and 30th June 2015 in all SSDC managed pay-and-display car parks in Chard, Crewkerne and Ilminster plus all but five small car parks in Yeovil.

To park for free, you need to display the voucher that was printed on page 7 of the South Somerset residents’ newsletter South Somerset News. Look after the voucher as it cannot be replaced.

Councillor Tim Carroll, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Car Park Strategic Income said, "After consulting a variety of organisations and retailers about possible parking initiatives, the consensus seemed to be that a free period on a weekday afternoon coinciding with the period when the schools come out appeared to the most favoured.

"We will be running this for a trial period of six months and carefully monitoring the uptake after the trial period. We are committed to try out a range of parking initiatives and this particular one is targeted specifically at South Somerset residents".