Cotswold District Council is opening the new Whiteway Car Park in Cirencester free of charge to the public for seven days over Christmas and New Year.

The car park will be free to use from 7am-7pm between Monday, December 21 and Thursday, December 24 and between Tuesday, December 29 to Thursday, December 31.

Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays are reserved for use by Cirencester Rugby Club. From 4 January 2021 the car park will be for permit holders only.

Construction works at Cirencester Rugby Club will be completed on 19 December to deliver the new permit-holders car park. The Whiteway car park provides an additional 158 parking spaces, including three disabled bays, five motorcycle bays and four electric vehicle bays with fast charging points.

Councillor Mike Evemy, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said: "It's great to see this development completed. We hope that this offer of free parking will help people coming to Cirencester in the busy next couple of weeks.

"In the new year, this car park will provide season ticket holders with dedicated parking spaces and free up spaces in the centre of Cirencester for visitors and shoppers."

The project to develop the Whiteway car park site at Cirencester Rugby Club began in February and works were halted by the pandemic for two months to ensure the workforce was protected and could be completed safely.

The Council has entered into a 10-year lease agreement with Cirencester Rugby Club. This arrangement will see the Council operate the site for permit-holder parking from Mondays to Fridays (excluding bank holidays) and the Rugby Club will use it at weekends.