Free evening and overnight parking will come into force in the new year after the council confirmed it would scrap charges earlier this month.

Changes to the parking fees are currently being advertised on all Dudley Council-run car parks ahead of the new arrangements, which will be in place from January 2nd 2019.

People visiting town centres, whether for a function, A picture of cabinet member, Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, cabinet member for environmentevent or to eat out will now be able to park for free from 7pm to 7am, Monday to Sunday.

This initiative will run alongside existing free parking arrangements, which allows people to park free for stays of up to two hours between 7am and 7pm on council-owned car parks. Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, cabinet member for environmental services, said:

"I’m really pleased that we are now only weeks away from free overnight parking coming into force. Traders and businesses are always asking us to do more to support them and have seen the success of our existing free parking initiative, which has supported day time trade.

"I hope this latest scheme will give a significant boost to our night time economy and take the hassle out of finding somewhere to park for our visitors.”

The free parking can also be used overnight by residents living nearby to reduce the amount of on street car parking in busy areas. For information on current parking tariffs in Dudley Council car parks people can visit dudley.gov.uk.