FREE evening and overnight parking will come into force on all Dudley Council owned car parks in the New Year.

Parking will be free on council-owned car parks from 7pm to 7am, Monday to Sunday.

The new scheme will begin on January 2, 2019.

The free parking can also be used overnight by residents living nearby to reduce the amount of on street car parking in busy areas.

This new changes will run alongside existing free parking arrangements, which allows people to park free for stays of up to two hours between 7am and 7pm on council-owned car parks.

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, cabinet member for environmental services, said: "Iā€™m really pleased that we are now only weeks away from free overnight parking coming into force.

"Traders and businesses are always asking us to do more to support them and with the success of our existing free parking initiative, which has supported the day time trade, I hope this latest scheme will give a significant boost to our night time economy and take the hassle out of finding somewhere to park for our visitors.ā€