'Blurred' parking zone boundaries approved in Portsmouth

Motorists living in residents' parking zones will now be able to leave their cars in neighbouring zones, if there are no spaces in their own, in a bid to make parking easier.

The price of a third vehicle permit will also be reduced from £590 a year to £300, after it was reported many residents were parking outside zones to avoid paying.

Portsmouth City Council's transport boss, Councillor Lynne Stagg, agreed to the proposed changes - which also included banning students living in halls from having permits and making first permits free for electric car owners - at a meeting last week.

Speaking at the meeting Southsea resident Jerry Brown suggested encouraging more people to cycle in the city. He said: 'I don't accept that there's nothing we can do. The problem is we've got far too many cars. Part of the solution will be to get people on bikes.'

Tory councillor Luke Stubbs added: 'I do think the paper as a whole is a small step in the right direction.

'But overlapping zones is complicated. An option is to have smaller zones so that if you live on the boundaries you get to park in one a quarter of a mile from where you live. What people want is to be able to park in a radius of their home.'

First vehicle permits currently cost £30 a year and second vehicle permits cost £100.