WILTSHIRE Council has issued tables which it claims show how much it will cost to cut Salisbury’s parking charges.

It says bringing back a one-hour £1 charging band will cost it at least £900,000 a year in lost revenue, and possibly up to £1.12million. The total depends on whether it charges £2.80 or £2.20 for a two-hour stay.

It also claims that to charge £1 for an hour and cut the all-day charge to £6 will cost £1.18million a year even if other charges remain unchanged.

Bill Browne, editor and publisher of the Journal, said: “Seven thousand of our readers voted for the reintroduction of a one-hour band. They did not specify what the charge should be. The level simply has to be reasonable and introduced without delay.”

City Centre Management’s latest proposals – which include lowering the cost of parking for two, three, four and five hours, with a £6 maximum - will cost £1.23million, according to the council.

Even if it charges £1.50 for an hour and £2.80 for two hours, the council says, it will still be £440,000 out of pocket.

Extending park and ride opening hours from 6am to 8pm in line with requests from the city council and business groups would cost another £132,000 a year, “with uncertain revenue generation”.

A report to Tuesday’s Cabinet warned: “Any shortfall in revenue would have to be achieved by reducing services elsewhere in the budget.”