A popular Tilehurst newsagent is in danger of closing its doors for good after the removal of free parking in the village.

On January 1, Reading Borough Council revised parking charges to remove the 30 minutes of free parking in Recreation Road and Dunstall Close – a rule that has been in place for years.

Businesses throughout the village have seen a knock-on effect of this over the last few months. 

Munir Butts from Butts Newsagents has spoken out about the difficulties that the village is facing.

He said: “It’s been absolutely ridiculous. The removal of free 30 minute parking is costing me a lot of money. People used to come in a get a newspaper and pick up a few other products but now they aren’t even coming in because a newspaper is going to cost them one pound more now.

“I’m a very small shop so every penny counts and at the minute I think I’m losing about £400 a day and I know the Co-op is having the same problem. We all still have council tax, rent, and energy costs to pay so everyone is struggling.

“The village was once a buzzing hive of activity but now all the banks are gone and there is no free parking. It is looking more and more like a ghost town. Eventually all the shops won’t be able to survive.”

A petition to reinstate the 30 minute free-parking was launched by Cllr Raj Singh as residents and businesses began to voice their discomfort at the new laws.

This petition is available to sign in many businesses up and down Tilehurst for villagers wanting to voice their views.

The petition in Butts Newsagents so far has 300 signatures.

A worry for local business owners such as Munir is that shoppers will bypass the village altogether when shopping.

A spokesperson from Reading Borough Council said: “While we appreciate increases in car parking charges are never welcome, the decision was made in the context of the Council freezing its parking fees since the period of the Covid pandemic. The cost of providing car park facilities and maintenance of those car parks has also risen significantly, as a result of rising inflation.

 “In some instances, income from Council car parks does not cover the costs involved in running them, such as lighting, providing pay and display machines, maintaining surfaces, re-lining etc. Set against the backdrop of every Council experiencing budget pressures because of the increased costs of providing services, we could not maintain and improve car park facilities without further investment.

“The revised charges were introduced on 1 January after they were advertised in the local press, on the Council website and on notices in the car parks in line with the statutory process.”