A Sunday service is being introduced at a park and ride site - spelling the end of a popular boot fair.

Canterbury City Council is launching the free service in a bid to encourage people back into the city centre and boost Sunday takings at city businesses.

The authority is also simultaneously suspending the park and ride at Sturry Road for two months, due to “ongoing low demand”.

But the expansion of the Wincheap service means a boot fair which has for years taken place at the car park will not be returning.

The news has been met with dismay from stallholders such as Barry Stone, who has been leading calls for the car boot sale to be reinstated since last year.

The weekly event was forced to stop due to the pandemic, and has more recently allowed to resume despite the easing of lockdown restrictions as bus services have been running from the site on Sundays.

Mr Stone says the boot fair was “important to so many people”.

“You’ve got lots of people living on council estates, and the boot fair was a sort of lifeline for them,” he said.

“There’s people living on the breadline, who buy so many things from the boot fair.

“For some it’s their weekly chance to go out and meet people.”

Mr Stone says he understands the council’s desire to encourage people into the city centre.

“But it would have been nice for them to let us use the car park in the morning, until 10am or even 9am,” he said.

“The park and ride does get busy, but not as much in the mornings. Most city centre shops don’t open until about 10am on Sundays.”

The council is “keen to hear from anyone who would like to take the boot fair on at another location”, and welcomes suggestions of potential sites.

But Mr Stone says the Wincheap location was ideal.

“It was good for everyone,” he said.

“Yes, you can now get a free bus into Canterbury and back, but some people can’t afford to buy things from shops.”

The new free Sunday service is being paid for using money from the government’s Welcome Back Fund.

Friday will see the final day of park and ride services operating at Sturry Road, which are ceasing until September 20.

The Sturry Road car park will remain open for use free-of-charge during this period, and regular Stagecoach services will still be running into the city centre at a cost of £3.50 return.

The council decided to halt the service because fewer than 100 vehicles have been using it per day and it will save £65,000 in operating costs.

Lead councillor for parking, Cllr Barbara Flack, says the cost of running the Sturry Road park and ride “cannot be justified” with customer numbers so low.

“We understand this may inconvenience some people, and we are sorry for this, but we have to look at our overall financial position and make some difficult decisions,” she said.

“It is much better news at Wincheap where we are delighted to be introducing a full Sunday service every week, free of charge.

“Sundays are an important trading day and we hope this will encourage more people to come and spend their money.”

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