SALISBURY park and ride sites will close from Sunday (April 5) until further notice due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation.

The five park and ride sites are located at Beehive, Wilton, Britford, London Road, Petersfinger.

Wiltshire Council says the decision to temporarily close the sites is due to "significantly reduced usage" following the government’s message for people to stay at home.

Council leader Philip Whitehead said: “With stay at home restrictions in place and footfall significantly reduced, we feel this is a sensible decision.

“People can use on and off-street parking bays without time restriction or charge. This includes any council car parks, on-street paid for parking bays and permit bays in controlled parking zones.

“We look forward to getting the sites back up and running as soon as possible after travel restrictions are lifted and life in Salisbury is able to return to normal.”

The decision to close the sites temporarily coincides with the Salisbury Reds bus company reducing the frequency of their bus services in the city from the same date.

Housing estates close to the park and ride sites will continue to be served by buses once per hour.

Andrew Wickham, Salisbury Reds managing director, added: “These are unprecedented times, and this drop in use of park-and-ride facilities is to be expected. In view of this, we support Wiltshire Council’s decision to temporarily close the service.

“Our team is working very hard to provide essential bus travel for key workers here in Salisbury. This latest move allows us to fully focus our resources on providing bus services elsewhere in the city - so that NHS staff and others can travel to-and-from work via sustainable transport. We look forward to re-introducing Salisbury’s park-and-ride services in the future.”