Fears Sunday parking fees will deter Shrewsbury and Ludlow visitors

John Hall, from Shrewsbury's Shop in the Loop, said the immediate impact of the new charges which have come into force may not be apparent because of the weekend's snowy weather.

But he added that he believes they will put visitors off coming into the town on Sundays.

"I suspect it is extremely bad news," he said.

"I think people are going to be put off – it is another deterrent to coming into Shrewsbury. Charges are already considerably higher than anywhere else."

Graham Galliers, chairman of Shrewsbury Business Chamber, said it was too early to tell what the impact would be.

"From a damage point of view, we won't know for a few weeks in this bad weather. It is a shame they have done it, but let's hope it hasn't done too much damage," he said.

A council spokesman said today information about the numbers of people parking on-street in Shrewsbury and Ludlow on Sunday – the first day the new charges applied – will not be available until mid-February.

The new on-street Sunday charges are the same as the existing Monday to Saturday on-street charges. Sunday parking fees in Shropshire Council's off-street surface car parks in Ludlow and Shrewsbury are now half the weekday fees, and are now free to use on Bank and public holidays.

Introducing Sunday on-street parking charges in Shrewsbury and Ludlow is expected to cost the council around £6,000, but bosses hope it will increase income by about £30,000 each year.

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council cabinet member responsible for parking, said cutting off-street parking costs in Ludlow and Shrewsbury should help businesses.