Worcester Council called Grinch over Christmas free parking

Marc Bayliss, the conservative parliamentary candidate for Worcester, made the jibe saying the authority has failed to show a "good festive spirit" and that independent shops could lose out as a result.

He spoke after Worcester City Council decided to scrap free car parking again this year and the free bus scheme it introduced for a day last year.

Now he has compared the council to the Dr Seuss character who hates people enjoying Christmas.

Mr Bayliss said: "For well over a decade, the council has offered this support to local people and retailers for whom Christmas is such an important period.

"Last year, the council provided a day of free bus travel instead, but they have also withdrawn that now.

"The city council need to show they care and offer some festive good spirit rather than acting like the Grinch.

"The city council make over £3m annually from parking and doing this would be a very modest show of support for local residents."

The tradition of Worcester City Council offering free festive parking ended last Christmas, with councillors narrowly voting to replace it with a complimentary bus service for one day in December.

In response, Labour councillor Lynn Denham, one of the joint Worcester City Council leaders, said the authority could not repeat the free bus travel offer due to financial constraints.

She added the city car parks are still full without the free car park scheme.

She said: "Worcester is a great place for visitors to park and come and do their Christmas shopping and we get visitors far and wide to shop in our unique independent retailers. 

"Our car parks are full this time of year and we were able to do the free bus offer last year after negotiations. 

"It enabled the Worcester people to come in and shop, reduced congestion and allowed people who could not afford the bus usually to travel into the city.

"The income in the car parks still held up, and car park usage is not an issue."