FREE parking spaces will be provided at the Cotswold District Council offices in Cirencester from this weekend, as improvements to the Forum car park mean motorists are struggling to find a place.

The work that began this week on improving the Forum car park in Cirencester should take approximately two months to complete.

During this time, spaces at the Forum car park will be restricted. There will be about 70 spaces available, gradually increasing to more than 200 when the work is completed.

Cotswold District Council have done some investigating during these past few weeks, and have discovered that the car parks in the town can accommodate demand, with most spaces available in the Waterloo and Brewery car parks.

However, staff did notice the car parks were especially busy on Saturdays.

To tackle this, and to allow people more places to put their car, the council is making almost 140 car parking spaces available free of charge at its Trinity Road headquarters on Saturdays and Sundays for a trial period.

This will begin this Saturday (February 21) and will run on weekends only until the end of May.

The trial will be ongoing while the Forum being improved, and also for a few extra weeks after.

Cllr Chris Hancock, CDC cabinet member for enterprise and partnerships, said: “We know that the improvements to the Forum car park – including better access, improved surface water drainage, and an increase in disabled spaces – will be welcomed by the public.

"However, we are very keen to ensure that the refurbishment work does not inconvenience motorists too much, and we are especially mindful that traders in Cirencester rely on the provision of adequate parking to encourage shoppers.

“By offering free weekend parking at our Trinity Road headquarters - a location only five minutes’ walk from the centre of town - we believe that we can alleviate any potential problems.

"It is worth mentioning that the postcode is GL7 1PX to help people find it since some motorists may not be familiar with its location.

“When we assessed that there would be a high demand for spaces on Saturdays, the council’s parking services team sought to identify alternative sites, and consulted a large number of organisations in the town to no avail.

"This brought home to us how valuable the Trinity Road option could be and we very much hope that motorists will consider it.

"After the Forum car park is back up and running, we will review the weekend usage of the Trinity Road site and consider its use as a longer term parking option.”