SMALL business Saturday let traders and shoppers celebrate what they bring to the county’s economy.

In Oxford it was free to park at all city council park and rides. It will be interesting to see if it increased footfall in the city because, as many traders point out, the city has been hit by roadworks plus rising parking charges.

This time of year should see a boost to traders but many rightly feel they are given the support they need from the authorities.

We reveal today that both Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council made a combined surplus of £7m last financial year.

Both say the money is reinvested but how do we see that? The city council says it goes back into car parks, additional park-and-ride capacity while the county council reinvests money into “improving transport services and infrastructure to assist in helping Oxford meet travel demands”. Perhaps the people who pour all the money into our car parks and parking metres should be asked how this extra money should be spent?

A few extra days of free parking, like this weekend, would go a long way to encourage shoppers to stay local and support our traders.