CAR parks are losing £700,000 in takings as drivers stay away from Oxford.

Oxford City Council has seen an 11 per cent fall in car park usage on last year – but shoppers and businesses say the authority only has itself to blame after driving out motorists with hefty charges and 15 years of ‘anti-motorist’ policies.

The impact on city coffers is now so severe that the council is drawing up plans to woo more motorists back, including extending season tickets for businesses who require city centre parking for staff. The council will also be reviewing car park charges.

A finance report to the city council’s executive board yesterday said there had been an ongoing fall in council car park usage, with income forecast to be £700,000 below budget.

It said: “The car parking manager is considering the options for tariff adjustments and promotions to stimulate demand.”

In the first three months of the current financial year, 166,149 people used the Westgate car park, compared to 204,571 in the same period two years ago. Income from the Westgate in the first quarter of this year fell to £669,072, from £802,788 in the same period in 2009/10.

Last year the city council increased its car park charges by an average of 15 per cent in a bid to raise an additional £500,000.

It now costs £7.60 to stay in the Westgate for three to four hours and £11.50 for four to six hours, rising on Saturday to £9.50 and £14.40. The charge in Gloucester Green car park is £16.70 for four to six hours on Saturday.

Deputy council leader Ed Turner said car parking was one of the important sources of council income being hit by the recession, adding: “We have asked officers to see what can be done to address it.

“Every pound that we lose from car parking is a pound that we are not able to spend on local services.”

He denied the council was doing a u-turn in its approach to motorists. He said: “Car parks provide an important part of our income and we wish to maintain that.

“There is no change in our approach.

“If we did not want people to drive into Oxford we would not provide car parks.”

Graham Jones, of the Rescue Oxford pressure group, said: “Whenever I pass the Westgate car park it is always half empty. This confirms all our suspicions that raising charges has put people off coming into Oxford.

“The increases have clobbered shoppers and local businesses. Now they are hitting the city council itself.”

He said the city had for years taken the view that ‘cars are bad’.

Mr Jones said Town Hall had been unable to say whether missing motorists had deserted Oxford or transferred to buses and park- and-rides.

He said: “My own view is that Oxford has missed out on lots of potential shoppers and tourists.”

Ray Lindsey, general manager of Haymans Fisheries in the Covered Market, said: “Many customers tell me to my face that the car parks are too expensive, while other places like Witney offer free parking.”