A WELLINGTON businessman has taken it on himself to organise free parking as a Christmas present to shoppers.

Joseph Welch, 33, is the owner of Welch Jewellers in South Street, Wellington which celebrated its fifth birthday on November 25.

He said he has wanted to organise free parking for the town for a number of years, but has been too busy in the past.

Speaking to the Star this week, Mr Welch said: “The council pay for everyone that parks in Wellington on a Saturday.

“Christmas shoppers want to come to out to the town on not just a Saturday. We need them to come out every day to boost the economy.

“Why aren’t shops coming together to offer this for parking?”

The free parking scheme is being run through the whole of December.

Mr Welch also said that if people choose to park in the town then all they have to do is spend £2.50 in his shop and show him a proof of parking then he is happy to refund you.

The store is open from 9am until 5.15pm from Monday to Saturday.

The price of all-day parking in Wellington is around £2.30.

The town recently celebrated the start of the Christmas period with their lights switch on at the weekend, which was held in spite of the strong winds and extreme weather that was forecast.

Mr Welch, who lives in Bishopswood and grew up in Taunton, added “Maybe next year I will get a few more shops to take part. If I get a good response then I will try and get other people involved.”

“Local business owners like myself really need to take the initiative these days. It is such a tough market competing with the internet.

“We need to make it as easy as possible to come to Wellington, and charging for parking is not customer friendly.”