PLANS have been put forward to give shoppers one hour of free parking across Congleton borough.

Car parks which are currently free in Congleton, Sandbach, Alsager, Holmes Chapel and Middlewich are planned to become pay-and-display in line with Crewe, Nantwich and Macclesfield, to 'harmonise' the newly-created Cheshire East Council area.

But some councillors hope to take the sting out of the charges.

Members of the council's environment and prosperity scrutiny committee, who discussed the proposals, came up with three key recommendations which will be put to cabinet members when they meet on Tuesday to decide on the plans.

They have suggested introducing first-hour free parking to encourage shoppers; universal parking charges in all towns and to extend the consultation period over the proposed charges to two months.

Councillor David Brickhill, portfolio holder for the environment, explained that the cabinet has to consider all of the recommendations but could still chose to ignore them.

Mr Brickhill, pictured, said: "There will be consultation in each of the towns and we want input from residents to let us know what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong."

Under current proposals, people in Congleton borough would pay 30p to park for an hour, whereas motorists in Crewe and Nantwich currently pay up to 70p. Parking in Macclesfield can cost up to 60p per hour.

Mr Brickhill added: "You can't have a situation where people are paying 70p to park for an hour in Crewe but only 30p in Congleton borough. That isn't fair on shoppers.

"It could be that we introduce charges across Congleton borough at 30p per hour for the first year and then increase the charge to match neighbouring towns in the next budget."

He said another alternative was to bring all towns to the charging level in Macclesfield.

Rob Horn, aged 33, who works at Lifestyle Taxis, in Lawton Road, Alsager, said: "I don't see why parking charges have to be the same everywhere, every town is different, this just seems like a money making exercise."

Colin Corbett, aged 47, owner of Colin Corbett Family Butchers also in Lawton Road, said: "Having the same prices in each town is a good idea as long as they are reasonable."