West End parking charge to put 5,100 jobs at risk
CHARGING motorists to park in the West End at night could cost local businesses £800m a year in lost earnings, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) claimed yesterday.
Westminster City Council’s plans to charge up to £4.80 an hour to park on yellow lines in the evening could also cost businesses £125m a year in extra travel costs for employees.
Up to 5,100 jobs could be lost as companies in the West End try to cut expenses amid falling revenues, CEBR says in its research commissioned by a group of West End businesses.
“These are serious figures and one needs to be very wary of changing the parameters for businesses at the heart of our tourism and entertainments offering,” said CEBR’s head of microeconomics, Oliver Hogan.
Westminster Council disputes CEBR’s figures. It said the research was “completely flawed” and that it was working on its own study.