PLANS to expand Winchester's park and ride system are materialising.

As previously reported, the city council invested nearly £1.6million in buying the former Vaultex site off Barfield Close in Bar End.

Now the building has been demolished and the area will be used to create 180 new spaces.

At a cabinet meeting on June 24, Cllr Martin Tod reported the progress that has been made.

He said: "The plans are really coming along. We will be looking at laying the cables for electric vehicle charging points soon, and the parking team have been excellent."

The city council has been given £5.6 million to help with the project after applying to Enterprise M3.

Cllr Tod added: "A big thank you to the team who submitted this proposal and were able to turn around this grant.

"We will still be taking it one step at a time and not spend money we don't yet have – but when the grant comes in it will prove very helpful.

"We have plenty of time to get this right."

The new car park will feature signs showing how close the city centre is. This is to encourage drivers to walk once parked.

Cllr Tod said this helps with the Movement Strategy; keeping vehicles out of the city centre.

It will also improve overall health with more people exercising and less air pollution created.

Cabinet members unanimously agreed on all recommendations relating to the project.

This means that a supplementary capital estimate and expenditure of £230,000 for the surface car park has been approved.