The North Quay car park is to partially reopen by the end of the month.

Business owners and church goers hit out when the car park on Trinity Road, closed permanently in June so Weymouth and Portland Borough Council could sell the site completely vacant. 

But the car park has remained closed since the sale to developers Acorn South, fell through last month as, according to the council, Acorn South “failed in its contractual obligation” to complete the sale. 

Cllr Jeff Cant, Leader of the Council and Briefholder for Assets and Infrastructure said, by the end of the month approximately 30 to 40 spaces near the shops will reopen.

“We expect the car park to re-open very soon after the large stones blocking the entrance are removed,” he said. 

He added the car park would remain open for as long as it took to sell the site.

“We will review the car park when a new buyer is found as it was something we didn’t take into account properly the first-time round,” he said. 

The spaces will be to the left of the building and the car park behind the building will remain closed.

Mr Cant said the council need to re-install the parking meter machine, which he expected to cost the council very little, and a tariff board had already been purchased.

Part-owner of KCS Hair and Beauty on Trinity Road, Carly Drake said it was fantastic news. 

“It’s makes such a huge difference for us. We moved to this site five years ago because it was bigger and so we could have the use of the car park. 

We have a lot of elderly clients and unfortunately, we have lost some. It has hit us really hard,” she said. 

She added it had been frustrating as the site and car park had not been used and had been left vacant while it was closed. 

“We could have still had our clients,” she said. 

David Hansford, owner of Vintage Weymouth said: “It’s certainly a good thing and it is very good news. I hope it does happen.

“It’s definitely needed even if it’s just for people collecting what they have bought. If people buy heavy furniture, they can’t park because there’s not even any loading bays.”

Another business owner said the closure had been very inconvenient. 

Cllr Colin Huckle, Briefholder for Transport and Infrastructure said: “We are very happy to re-open these spaces in a key part of the town. We are continuing to look at the future of the North Quay site.”

The borough council moved out of its North Quay offices in April last year to the smaller Mulberry Centre in Commercial Road in a bid to cut costs.