Nightlife in central London will still be affordable

Plans to charge motorists to park in the evening and at weekends have been scrapped until after next summer’s Olympics.

After the furore that has met Westminster’s proposal to introduce fees from next January, the council leader Colin Barrow announced that the parking rules would be delayed until after the Games.

The decision followed a High Court judge’s pronouncement to allow a judicial review of the plan amid warnings it could cost £800million in lost businesses and 5,100 jobs.

Restaurants, pubs, high-street businesses, churches and Government ministers have condemned the measure among fears it could hit the central London economy. New parking discounts for workers and businesses were announced on Tuesday under a deal with National Car Parks in order to deflect attacks on Westminster council’s tax on nightlife. But the victory for campaigners came after the High Court judge’s decision.

Westminster council plan consists of measures intended to abolish free parking on single yellow lines and parking bays after 6.30pm during the week and between 1pm and 6pm on Sundays. Mr Barrow insists it is a bid to ease evening congestion and not an ‘inappropriate’ way of making savings. 

Following the decision to postpone the charges, the mayor of London Boris Johnson has promised Tfl will be working with Westminster on measures to combat congestion.

The move would have meant removing almost 2,000 free spaces from the West End and could have lead to a disastrous clash with the diamond jubilee and the Games.