Chorley is well and truly open for Christmas with shoppers being given the gift of more parking spaces ahead of the festive rush.
Traders gathered to welcome the town’s Christmas attraction at the weekend and the message loud and clear was ‘come and support your local traders this Christmas’.
Chorley Council has been working hard to put plenty of festive fun in place and even more parking spaces have just been opened to make it as easy as possible for people visiting by car.
Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council, said: “The festive season is a really important time for traders so we’ve done all we can to make the town look Christmassy and provide as many parking spaces as possible to make Chorley an enjoyable place to shop.
“While we’ve paused the development on the Flat Iron over Christmas it has allowed us to create even more parking spaces than we had before work started.
“In the last few days we’ve opened another 40 spaces on the Flat Iron and created a new car park in one of the Market Walk service yards, off Clifford Street, which also offers around 40 spaces.”
Families enjoyed whirling on the festive rides and relaxing with a hot drink along Fazakerley Street at the weekend, which has been turned into a mini winter wonderland to provide shoppers with some festive fun.
The town is also home to the Totally Locally Chorley ‘Elf Trail’, which is being organised by the town’s vibrant independent trader group.
Malcolm Allen, chair of the Chorley Traders’ Alliance, said: “We believe the town centre development is the right thing for Chorley but while that is on hold we’ve been really pleased with the speed at which the council has acted to get as many parking spaces as possible open for the Christmas period.
“Chorley is a great place to shop and we’ve got loads going on over the festive period so make sure you come and support us over the next few weeks.
“The St George’s quarter is the heart of the independent traders and we’ve also got a fantastic selection of microbars making Chorley a great place for your Christmas night out too.”
If you’re shopping on Saturdays, the Art Venturers will also be offering free Christmas arts and crafts in Market Walk, Father Christmas has installed his post box ready for your Christmas lists and letters and there will also be Christmas street entertainers with the Christmas Waiters on 9 December and The Jack’s of Frost on the 23 December.
“The message to everyone is come and support your local traders this Christmas” said Councillor Bradley.
“We’ve got a great mix of independent traders and high street names meaning you’ll be able to get some unique gifts and enjoy a relaxed shopping experience with plenty of free parking on our car parks.”
There is also a free park and ride operating from Morrisons and Woodlands on Tuesdays and Saturdays, which means people can park for free all day.
