Work on the controversial Oxford Transport Strategy scheme and the temporary closure of Debenhams have contributed to a £700,000 fall in car-parking revenue, it is claimed.

A total of £730,000 is to be taken from Oxford City Council coffers to cover an expected shortfall in income from car-parking and concessionary bus fares.

The council's strategy and resources committee yesterday agreed the money will be released from balances. The meeting heard car-parking income will have decreased by £700,000 at the end of the year, partly because of disruption caused by roadworks under the OTS and other work carried out by Thames Water at the same time. Income is also down because of the loss of Debenhams while it undergoes a major revamp.

In addition, the council has predicted a loss of £30,000 from its concessionary bus-fare scheme it offers to pensioners and disabled people.

As more people have taken up the scheme, where bus passes are available for 20p, so the local authority has taken on an extra financial burden. Cllr John Tanner, leader of the council, said: "It is quite clear that as soon as Debenhams closed people stopped coming in and parking. It does seem that quite a lot of people who shop in Oxford come in because of Debenhams."

Mr Tanner explained some of the shortfall was due to the situation with the Thornhill park-and-ride, which is free of charge. The council leases the land from trustees who own the site and is currently in negotiation with them about instigating charges. In the meantime, the council is out of pocket as it still has to pay for security on the site. It is hoped in future years, when the council can start charging, this money will be recouped.

Alex Hollingsworth, chairman of the council's highways and traffic committee, said the shortfall of money from the car parks was also because the budget was based on last year's figures and was probably too optimistic. He said figures for cars using the car parks fell during the period of disruption caused by the roadworks but was now back to normal.

Mr Hollingsworth added that it also seemed that more cars were parking on Sundays and in the evenings - when prices were cheaper - also adding to the shortfall in income.

Story date: Wednesday 03 November

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.