SHOPPERS have been driven away from Oxford city centre because of steep parking price rises, business leaders claimed last night.

New figures show 26,579 fewer cars parked in the city’s Westgate car park in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2008.

And traders, business leaders and councillors believe the 10 per cent drop was a result of controversial price increases which came into force in January.

Graham Jones, of city centre business campaign group Rescue Oxford (Rox), said the decrease was due to both the prices hikes and the recession.

He said: “Obviously, there has been a little bit of a downturn.

“The increases will tell people possibly to think of other ways of coming in, which is fine, but it will also unfortunately deter people and they will go elsewhere. That was always our worry.

“What we have to do, particularly in recessionary times, is do our level best to attract as many people as we can to Oxford. Clearly, raising parking prices is a deterrent.”

He said Oxford was competing for shoppers with Swindon, Reading, Banbury and Cheltenham — and added Witney’s Marriotts Close development would only add to the problem when it opened.

The figures, released by Labour-run Oxford City Council under the Freedom of Information Act, show 251,850 vehicles parked in the Westgate car park between January and April 2008.

But only 225,271 vehicles parked in the multi-storey in Oxpens Road in the same period this year.

Revenue taken from the car parks increased by 18 per cent — from £1,845,022 to £2,182,886.

None of the figures included Oxford’s park-and-ride sites.

City Liberal Democrat group leader David Rundle, who opposed the price rises in January, said: “This is the time to be helping people, not making it more difficult.

“It sounds to me as if sadly it has been proven true that the increases have decreased the amount of people who want to come into the city centre.

“At a time of recession that just piles on the problems.”

Steve Hunt, manger of Sports World in the Westgate, said: “We have been here for 10 years and numbers have plummeted.

“Sports World is one of the biggest units and sales have dropped. Nothing has been done to invite people.”

The Oxford Mail revealed in January that the price rises, which averaged 15 per cent, would not be evenly spread between the city council’s car parks.

Motorists in the Westgate faced hikes of 32 per cent on a stay between one and two hours on a Saturday, while those at Gloucester Green faced rises of 38 per cent for the same period.

Parking at Gloucester Green now costs £1.80 more for a stay of between one and two hours on a Saturday.

Deputy city council leader Ed Turner said the drop in cars could be attributed to a number of factors — free parking at the city’s park-and-ride sites, the recession, and less use of cars generally, as well as the cost of parking.

He said: “We expected a bit of resistance. If anything, I am quite surprised by how well car parking has held up within the city, given the economic climate.”

Referring to the decision to raise the prices, he added: “We did not have any choice.

“To attribute these figures exclusively to the price rises is not right.”

esimmonds@oxfordmail.co.uk