Park and Ride Pilot for Folkestone

Folkestone & Hythe District Council are piloting a park and ride service in Folkestone this summer.

The service - which will be operated by Stagecoach - will run from the Motis Business Centre in Cheriton near J12 of the M20, CT19 4 QJ. Users can enjoy hassle free parking paying just £5 per car to park all day. Shuttle buses will run every 30 minutes between 9am and 6pm to Folkestone Harbour via Folkestone Central Station. The park and ride service will operate every weekend until October and daily from 19 July to 31 August.

This park and ride service is a pilot to assess demand and help alleviate parking congestion in the harbour area and for the Lower Leas Coastal Park during the summer months. The service has been made possible by Welcome Back funding from government.

A council spokesperson said: "We are expecting a high number of visitors this summer which should be great for our local businesses but the influx of additional cars has caused issues in the past down in the harbour and coastal park area where parking is limited.

"By piloting this park and ride service we hope both visitors and residents will benefit from easier parking and fewer cars in the traditionally busy areas. The shuttle buses will also stop at Folkestone Central station providing a new important transport link between the station and harbour area."

Setting up a park and ride service is just one of the many things that the council is doing to help ease the impact of increased visitor numbers this summer. Following on from successful interventions last summer, barbecues at the Coastal Park will remain banned and the Coastal Park car park will continue to close at 8pm to discourage anti-social behaviour.

Other actions include putting out more bins than ever, encouraging people to take their litter home and stepping up the number of environmental enforcement officers on patrol.

For more information about the park and ride service please visit folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/parkandride