Council car parks in Weymouth raked in more than £3,500 on the first day of the ‘free’ parking initiative in the run-up to Christmas.

Parking was supposed to be free all day in borough council-run car parks in Weymouth town centre on Saturday, December 1.

This was to coincide with Small Business Saturday, a campaign to support the high street and encourage people to shop locally.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council worked with Weymouth Business Improvement District (BID) to allocate a day of free parking to support this event.

However, a Freedom of Information request by Portland resident Greg Hargreaves revealed that £3,519.51 was collected by ticket machines and the JustPark app on that day from car parks that were supposed to be free.

Many people took to social media at the time with claims that the sign on ticket machines informing residents of the free parking was not very visible.

Several people said they paid out because they didn't see the sign.

One Facebook user said: "A poster over each machine would be the obvious way to prevent people paying."

Car parks were also free after 3pm on all other days throughout December.

Richard Lamb, Chairman of Weymouth BID, said: “We communicate with people, but it is down to the council to deliver the free parking. We can only spread the word.

“We tried to communicate to people by putting it on the big sign by the relief road as you come into Weymouth, on Facebook and in the paper but there’s only so much we can do.

“People obviously don’t want to risk getting a fine for the sake of two or three pounds so if the free parking wasn’t clear they would have just paid.

“The council said it couldn’t put any messages on the actual machines or turn them off.

"I can’t understand why they can’t turn those machines off and go the extra mile. It’s just disappointing.

"If you have the initiative to do something like this it has to be delivered, otherwise you might as well not bother."

Cllr Colin Huckle, Briefholder for Transport and Infrastructure at the borough council, said: “We used bright orange stickers and signage in every car park that was part of the free parking scheme. We have used the same signage that we have used for the past two years, without any complaint. We cannot bag the machines as the majority are solar powered and need the solar panel to charge the battery. We advertised the initiative on DorsetForYou, the media and on social media, too

“We regret that this has happened. I can’t say what we are going to do with the £3,500. I don’t think we will be giving refunds because that would be impractical.

“Maybe we will make a donation with it, but I couldn’t say at the moment.”

A spokesman from Dorset Councils Partnership said: "The money will go in to the borough council funds and members will decide how to spend it."