Councils are being told by the Government to cut the cost of car parking to save ailing town centres.

Opponents of increases in car parking charges in Wiltshire have been buoyed by new government guidance which flies in the face of Wiltshire Council’s move in April to increase some charges by up to 200 per cent – a decision which has seen a dramatic fall in car park usage in recent months.

The government will not be able to force councils to change their car parking charges policy, but it can issue guidance which it recommends councils to follow.

Eric Pickles, the Government’s communities secretary, said: “These parking restrictions have hit small shops the hardest, creating ghost-town high streets which can’t compete with out-of-town supermarkets.

“We want more parking spaces to help small shops prosper in local high streets.

“The coalition is standing up for local high streets, compared to Labour which ran local shops into the ground with its red tape and anti-car obsession.”

Wiltshire Council gave in to pressure in Salisbury on Tuesday when it agreed to reduce car parking charges. It came after 7,000 people signed a petition calling for the reintroduction of one-hour parking.

Before April it cost £1 to park for an hour, but after there was a minimum two-hour charge of £2.20, which traders say has resulted in a 30 per cent drop in trade and 200,000 fewer car users coming in to the city.

Now council leader Jane Scott has confirmed one-hour parking at a cost of £1.50. This amount will remain fixed for three years. Cllr Scott has refused to reduce the cost for the rest of Wiltshire, a stance which Rob Perks, chairman of the Chippenham Chamber of Commerce, believes Wiltshire Council cannot maintain.

He said: “It would seem unfair to do that for Salisbury, but not for the rest of Wiltshire.

“They are under a significant amount of pressure now and I am going on the assumption we will see a change here too in the end.”

Business leaders are hoping Wiltshire will follow the lead taken by Swindon Borough Council which last year reduced the cost of town centre parking, a move which showed both takings and the numbers of shoppers in the town centre increase.

David Baker, president of the Trowbridge Chamber of Commerce, said: “The effect we have seen in Swindon has been really positive. The chamber groups here have been working together to draw up a picture of just how the charges have affected each town in Wiltshire.

“We are preparing to send a report to the council, but you only have to look around to see car parks in Trowbridge are half empty and there is a reason for that.”

Cllr Dick Tonge, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for car parking, has rejected Mr Pickles’ claims.

He said: “The information from the research that we have carried out shows that while car parking charges may have some impact, it is in fact the retail offering available to shoppers that will affect the success of town centres.

“It is all very well for Eric Pickles to say these things, but he is taking money away from us and those savings have to be made somewhere. In this case it is in the form of car parking charges.”