MORE than 14,000 people have signed a petition against parking charges in four North Yorkshire market towns.
The signatures were collected in Northallerton, Thirsk, Stokesley and Bedale by campaigners angry about Hambleton District Council's plans to impose pay-and-display parking in the towns.
Representatives from the four towns gathered in Northallerton on Tuesday.
More than 6,000 signatures have been collected so far in Northallerton. A further 3,500 people have signed the petition in Thirsk, 2,744 in Stokesley and 2,464 in Bedale.
Rosemary Dalton, co-owner of the Yorkshire Store, in Stokesley, said: "We expected a lot of support because of the strength of feeling. The overwhelming response is that people don't want parking charges."
The parking charges, planned from next summer, would fill a projected annual £450,000 hole in the authority's budget.
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