RESTRICTIONS on town centre parking are set to be reintroduced by the council in the countdown to Christmas.

Parking rules were suspended at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

But now drivers will once again have to get used to time limits and display their dashboard discs in certain zones in Greenock and Gourock - or face a £60 fine.

Councillors have agreed to restart the limited-stay parking scheme and the rules will be enforced once again from Monday December 7.

Residents’ permit schemes will also re-commence throughout the district but all council-owned car parks – paid-for or otherwise – will remain free to use into the new year.

Council officials believe that bringing back enforcement will free up spaces in busy areas during peak times, increase turnover of vehicles and boost trade.

A report by local authority chief executive, Aubrey Fawcett, says businesses are in favour of the move.

It said: "Officers consulted on this issue through the Community Recovery Plan.

"The view of the business sounding board was to reinstate the enforcement of limited-stay parking.

"This is to free up spaces close to the town centre which have become occupied by long stay parking.

"It is therefore recommended that the use of time clocks and associated enforcement resumes in early December following appropriate publicity."

Individual parking schemes exist in Greenock and Gourock but these were abandoned during Covid-19 because there were far less vehicles on the roads and staff were redeployed elsewhere to help with the Covid-19 emergency response.

Limited-stay parking with discs had previously been introduced by the council to address the pressure on spaces which had built up after a free-for-all when the police axed traffic wardens.

Some parts of Greenock town centre have limited disc-display street parking for up to two hours, including Cathcart Street and West Blackhall Street.

In Gourock there is a mix of parking where discs have to displayed on Kempock Street, Kempock Place and Shore Street for up to one hour and on Lower Kempock Street for up to three.