PARKING charges at a central Oxford car park are set to get cheaper when the new Westgate Centre opens next month.

Oxford City Councillors voted on Tuesday to reduce the fees at the 420-space Oxpens car park to bring them in line with the new shopping centre's 960-space car park which opens on October, 24.

Westgate revealed the pricing structure of its new car park last week, with fees undercutting the cost of parking at Oxpens by as much as £10 on a Saturday.

Oxpens currently charges more on a Saturday compared to other days of the week whereas the prices at Westgate will be the same, regardless of the day.

This means that on Saturday at Oxpens it currently costs £15 to park for four to six hours while Westgate will charge £11 for six hours.

Councillors have now decided to make the fares at the two car parks the same because of the proximity of Oxpens to the Westgate site and to 'create a unified parking policy in the area.'

Fees in the council's other city centre car parks - Worcester St and Gloucester Green - will not change.

The Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition councillor Andrew Gant, has raised concerns that the lowering of the tariffs will increase the number of cars in the city, leading to more congestion and air pollution.

He said: "The council should never have ceded control of the parking charges to the Westgate.

"Understandably they care about bringing people to their business but there are many other issues at play.

"It's a huge development that will change the city but a lot of the transport issues around it only seem to be being worked out now, a month before opening."

The new centre, which features a 100 new shops, is expected to attract 41,000 shoppers a day.