West Berkshire Council wants to build or pave over nine surface car parks in Newbury, and needs more shoppers to start using multi-storeys, and the Kennet Centre is to become the guinea-pig.

There’s widespread support among traders to update the pay-and-display ticket system, and the winning bid will have to put in the new system before Christmas.

Vodafone’s community relations manager David Danielli is helping oversee the bid process, and will forward the final bids to councillors at the end of the month.