Work is set to start next week on an £850,000 project to increase the amount of car parking in Woodbridge.

Suffolk Coastal council said the scheme had been agreed following repeated calls for much-needed extra parking spaces from businesses and the town council.

The creation of 63 new spaces at The Avenue and Station Road car parks is due to take six months and is expected to be completed during next summer.

Carol Poulter, Suffolk Coastal’s cabinet member for the green environment, said: “Woodbridge is becoming increasingly popular with visitors and the town centre is thriving, so we had repeated calls to provide extra parking for shoppers and visitors alike.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work, but we need to provide improved parking facilities if the town is to continue to prosper. We have arranged for the work to be carried out at a time to avoid the main tourist season, but realise that Woodbridge is popular all year round, so there will be some people who are put out by the work.”

Work will be done in four phases, starting at The Avenue car park. Public access between The Avenue car park and Station Road car park will be closed during the work, so there will be no access to the river or Kingston Park via this route until the project is complete.

Phasing of the work and the siting of the main compound area, in the Station Road car park, has been carefully planned to ensure the maximum amount of parking remains available during the work.

While there will be some loss of vegetation, larger trees are being retained and a substantial new planting scheme has been planned to replace anything taken out.

Other features, such as an electric charger for two cars, better lighting, new cycle racks, along with the installation of bat and bird boxes are also planned.

Following consultation with residents, speed humps are being added to slow traffic down in the car parks.

The recycling bins have now been moved and placed on parking bays directly in front of the fenced area. They are accessible throughout the work period.

Suffolk Coastal has planned to do the work over the winter period as it is outside the busy summer season and less disruptive to local businesses.