AFTER Carrs visitors took matters into their own hands by barricading the entrance to a popular car park to deny office workers entry, the council have stepped in to charge motorists.

Macclesfield Borough Council’s cabinet have approved parking charge proposals for the Chancel Lane car park after employing a security firm to police it also failed.

The system, which only allows cars to park for a maximum of three hours, is designed to free up spaces for users of the Carrs, owned by MBC, and the parish hall.

Street Scene portfolio holder Coun Roger West said: "Over a number of years there has been difficulty because of office workers leaving their vehicles all day. Weekly monitoring by security is not an option."

The report placed before cabinet members last Wednesday (February 4) said that of the 54 spaces available, there are often only 10 free for genuine users of the facilities.

The report said that local visitors had taken "action" to prevent office workers from parking by physically barricading the entrance to the car park.

It added that in the summer months, especially on sunny afternoons, there may be no car parking spaces available for genuine users.

The dossier said the security company was "very successful" in dealing with non Carrs and parish hall users, but on mornings when they were employed, office workers parked opposite waiting for the guard to leave.

New pay and display charges will be 20p for one to two hours and 50p between two and three hours between the hours of 8am to 6pm.

Leader of Macclesfield Borough Council Coun Frank Keegan said: "This is an extremely good news item for those users."

The process is likely to take between three to six months and objections will be considered by MBC and then Cheshire East when it takes over the running of local government on April 1.