The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is calling for local councils to waive parking charges on the first UK Small Business Saturday on 7 December.

The event itself is designed to celebration small businesses, and is the culmination of a campaign to encourage consumers to shop on their local high streets, and to use small businesses.

The FPB said it has written to all local authorities to ask them to consider scrapping parking charges on the day, in order to offer consumers an incentive to use their local shops.

A number of councils have already offer parking iniatives. Lancashire’s Pendle Council offer free parking across the borough in all 45 of the authority’s car parks for the first two and half hours, while Morpeth council is planning to trial free parking for 12 months.

Phil Orford MBE, chief executive of the Forum of Private Business, said: "The Forum is a proud supporter of Small Business Saturday, which is about reconnecting people with the small businesses in their local areas and demonstrating the enormous value that they bring to individual customers and to the UK as whole.

"To make it a real success everyone needs to play their part and local councils have a key role to play in removing one of the barriers for small businesses."

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