The Liberal Democrats have expressed concerns about the 12% in ‘footfall’ between 2013 and 2014.

Lib Dem Group Leader Chris White said: ‘In July 2013 there were 26690 visits to our shops. The equivalent count in July 2014 was 23540.

‘This means that there has been a 12% fall in trade in a single year – at a time when the economy in this part of the world is recovering.

‘It is quite clear that the council’s new parking regime is responsible for this very significant drop. The Administration now needs to respond to the clear wish of the council and revise this policy – and not revisit the cheap point scoring they attempted at last week’s council meeting.’