FARMERS fear that the closure of a Winchester city centre car park has hit trade at their markets, a meeting heard.

The Friarsgate Multi-Storey Car Park closed on March 30 next to the venue of the fortnightly farmers' markets.

It emerged at the full council meeting when Cllr Martin Tod asked about the impact of the closure on footfall.

Cllr James Byrnes, portfolio holder for local economy, said the footfall monitor in lower High Street, the nearest to Friarsgate, showed a 3.1 per cent increase in April and then a 6.4 per cent decrease in May.

Cllr Byrnes said footfall constantly varied and may have been affected by the car park closure as well as weather, events, city centre promotions and school holidays.

The Winchester Area Committee of the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce has expressed concern about the impact of the car park closure.

Cllr Byrnes said there has also been anecdotal feedback from Hampshire Farmers’ Market traders that the closure of the car park has been detrimental to trade.

But he said officers of the Business Improvement District are reporting no negative feedback on the closure from other local businesses.

Measures are being introduced to offset the loss of spaces, particularly in the run-up to the all-important Christmas season.

These include a range of additional Park and Ride services will come into effect, ranging from the new Pitt Manor service (200 spaces) to additional Sunday services from the South car park.