LISKEARD traders are hitting back at Cornwall Council's doubling of car park fees in an effort to stem the tide of shoppers deserting town centres.

Retailers are offering to refund the cost of an hour's parking in a bid to retain their customer base.

Debbie Vass, who runs Health and Happiness with her family, said: "I walked round the car park on Tuesday afternoon and there were only half a dozen cars. It will be interesting to see if Cornwall Council's takings have gone down.

"When people spend £10, we're giving them a receipt and telling them to keep their parking ticket. Next time they come in and shop, we'll refund it."

Mrs Vass said there was a lot of talk about the cost of parking and people had been quite surprised at the sudden increase.

"We thought we needed to do something because we didn't want to lose more customers. It was a way of trying to entice them in."

Mrs Vass said workers were leaving the car parks and looking for spaces elsewhere.

"I've had a lot of people who work in town complaining that it's £4.50 to park for work," she said. "Everyone's looking for parking spaces out of town. It was £1 and went up and up to £2.20 and now it's £4.50; it's ridiculous."

Her daughter, Natalie, said they had a family meeting and were thinking positively.

"It is a much better approach than doing nothing," she said.

"Hopefully other traders will back this scheme and help support our local community."

'Fantastic'

The idea was backed by Jane Fisher, who runs women's clothes shop Streetwise.

"We think it's a fantastic idea and we've said we'll do the same thing," she said.

"There are several shops which will probably join in and the Traders' Association will be promoting it."

Chamber of commerce chairman Rik Jones said: "Maybe if a lot more shops took part in this it would encourage more people to shop in Liskeard town centre. This way, they are not even having to pay 20p as they will be getting the full 40p refunded to them."

Mike George, who represents Liskeard South and Dobwalls on Cornwall Council, said anything which encouraged people into the town centre was a good thing.