Limited parking capacity in Bury St Edmunds is set to be boosted by 420 extra spaces over the festive period after local brewer Greene King offered free use of its staff car park at weekends.

East Anglian Daily Times: Thousands flock to Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre.Thousands flock to Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre.

The temporary scheme, which will enable visitors to park at the site in Cullum Road free of charge every weekend from this Saturday until January 3, coincides with a major review of borough council car parks in the town.

The study was prompted by recent concerns about a lack of parking provision, particularly in southern Bury St Edmunds.

Consultants commissioned by St Edmundsbury Borough Council found there is a shortfall of 100 car parking spaces at weekends, so news that Greene King will be sharing its parking facilities with the public has been welcomed by councillors and business leaders, who are keen to accommodate as many visitors as possible.

John Griffiths, leader of St Edmundsbury Borough Council, said Bury continued to be “evermore successful and popular” with shoppers and visitors.

East Anglian Daily Times: Thousands flock to Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre.Thousands flock to Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre.

He continued: “December, for the majority of our retailers, restaurants and residents, is the busiest time of the year.

“While this is good news, we recognise that this success brings evermore demand on our roads and car parks, particularly at weekends, and we want to do all we can to make it easier for people to visit, shop in and enjoy this wonderful town.”

The council has already announced ‘free from 4pm’ car parking in Bury every Thursday through to Christmas. This is in addition to the popular ‘free from 3’ on Tuesdays which operates all year round. Both schemes apply to all town centre public car parks except the Parkway multi-storey.

Mr Griffiths added: “I would like to thank Greene King for kindly agreeing to make its Cullum Road car park available to the public at weekends.

“The council’s staff car park in Olding Road is available for free from late afternoons during the week and all day at weekends. All of this means that whatever side of the town you are driving in from there will be more opportunity to park and walk and beat some of the weekend congestion.”

Mark Cordell, chief executive of business improvement district group Our Bury St Edmunds, said they had been working with the council to provide as much parking availability as possible in the run up to Christmas.

He added: “The council has just produced a paper about general parking in the town based around the concern we have about capacity. The last thing we want is for people to come to Bury thinking they won’t be able to park their car.

“This extra capacity at Greene King will come as a real bonus and will boost the parking availability at a crucial time, especially as we are expecting extra visitors to use the ice skating rink we are setting up in Charter Square.”

Meanwhile Paul Dennett, facilities manager for Greene King, said the company was happy to help out.

“With our roots placed firmly in Bury St Edmunds for the last 200 years, we have always played an active part in our community,” Mr Dennett said.

“We are more than happy to be supporting our fellow businesses by inviting shoppers and visitors to use our car park during the festive season.”

Weekend shoppers are being advised to arrive in town before 10am or after 3pm to beat the traffic queues.