Free town centre car parking introduced for NHS and key workers

All pay and display machines will be bagged over to avoid any confusion

Oldham Council is temporarily suspending charging in all town centre car parks to ensure NHS staff and key workers have somewhere to park when going about their vital roles.

All pay and display machines will be bagged over to avoid any confusion.

On-street car parking fees have also been suspended as has enforcement in residential parking zones.

Due to the lack of traffic on the roads all bus lane enforcement has also been suspended until further notice.

Councillor Sean Fielding, Leader of Oldham Council, said: “NHS staff, council colleagues and other frontline workers are doing a brilliant job.

“They are continuing to support our most vulnerable residents under very difficult circumstances.

“To show our support we have introduced free parking in our town centre car parks and on-street bays.

“This will allow essential workers and volunteers to go about their vital duties without having to worry about paying to park.

“The decision also follows the government’s guidelines around social distancing and discouraging key workers from using public transport.”

Enforcement staff are being deployed elsewhere to help run vital services.   

If a key worker did receive a fine for any reason it will be waived.

However, this does not mean key workers or health workers can park illegally, or unsafely on the highway. 

If their parking is deemed to have put others at risk then they would face a possible fine.

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