GOOD weather has been credited with bringing in £413,000 more in car parking charges than expected in the past year.

Oxford City Council had expected to make £7.9m from its car parks in 2014/15, factoring in a predicted decrease from the closure of the Westgate car park in January.

But, despite a slight fall in income, people still spent £8.3m on parking, just £114,000 less than the previous year.

City centre car parks brought in £5.54m – £177,000 less than the previous year but still £233,000 more than expected.

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City council board member for transport Alex Hollingsworth said better weather meant there had not been days when the city was effectively shut down.

He put the extra income down to that rather than a price rise of from 10p and 20p an hour at some city centre and suburban car parks.

Mr Hollingsworth said: “Everything points to the weather being better.

“Basically the patterns of usage in previous years have been disrupted by snow and floods and [this year] there were not any problems.”

“It is good to have a year when the elements did not affect us in those ways.”

The £413,000 in income which the council had not planned for may be spent on new schemes such as a proposed new recycling centre for the city.

But Graham Jones of Oxford business organisation ROX said traders in the city had experienced a difficult time since the Westgate shut.

Mr Jones said: “I think the council bringing in more than it expected is a move in the right direction but I do not think businesses really gained from that.”

Suburban car parks, such as those in Summertown and in Union Street off Cowley Road, brought in an extra £12,000 and car parks such as Cutteslowe increased their income by £19,000.

Park and rides at Seacourt, Pear Tree and Redbridge increased their income by £33,000.

Regular park and ride commuter Katie Herring, from Abingdon, wants the council to do more to encourage people to use park and rides.

She said: “Now that it costs £2 to park at the park and ride and £2 for the bus you may as well park in the city centre because it all adds up.”