It looks like car parking charges will soon be extended later
18/03/2026
The administration has also dismissed calls for a further free-parking trial
Cherwell District Council appears to be about to extend the chargeable times period in its car parks, reducing the free evening period by an hour.
New signage has appeared at car parks in the town indicating parking fees are payable seven days a week, from 8am to 7pm. Free parking is currently available after 6pm in a move that was previously noted as supporting the town’s nighttime economy.
Despite the signage promoting fees being payable until 7pm, parking machines and the parking app both currently only accept payments until 6pm and the council’s website states fees are only payable until the same time.
Banbury FM has contacted the council asking them to clarify the matter – we have yet to receive a reply. We understand that car parking fees are set to increase from the start of April.
The news comes in the same week as two Cherwell councillors urged the authority’s Liberal Democrat Administration to undertake a 2-hour free parking trial. Councillor Les Sibley felt the move was necessary to encourage people to visit the town centre, noting out-of-town shopping centres with free parking were all busy.
But Council Leader David Hingley highlighted a private report on car parking which had been discussed behind closed doors the previous week. He felt there were reasons why the council shouldn’t undertake a trial: “At this point there are reasons why perhaps free car parking trials are not necessarily suitable, in terms of the impact on our income and, as has been evidenced previously, the minimal impact on footfall.”
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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Robert Bradley On 19/03/2026 at 5:22 am
there is already lots of free parking around the town especially in the evenings, bus stops, double yellow lines,zebra crossing, pavement ect seems like the only place you get a ticket is in a car park.
David B On 20/03/2026 at 12:04 am
That should kill off a few more restaurants for the sake of few quid in their pockets. There’s a psychological effect having to pay for parking between 6 and 7 that means I’ll probably take my family out of town to eat as I want to book to eat early due to young diners.