Nobody likes to pay for parking their car on a public highway but most people would accept there are times and places when it is necessary.

This can be to ensure traffic moves freely and stop roads getting snarled up, for example.

However, when where there is no apparent problem then the case for charging becomes much less clear-cut.

So the Council’s plan to eliminate all free limited-waiting bays in Bradford city centre is sure to prove controversial – after all, they are popular with both traders and shoppers.

There is little doubt the move will be seen by many as just another attack on motorists’ pockets, intended more to make money than to tackle any traffic issues.

And it is hard to see how removing free limited waiting is going to benefit Bradford’s retail economy.

If the Council feels it is essential to go down this route, it should help to restore shoppers’ confidence by matching the reduction in free parking spaces with a reduction in the cost of parking elsewhere, something that would give retailers some grounds for optimism.

No doubt the Council will argue Bradford is already one of the cheapest places to park in Yorkshire but, as demonstrated this week, it also has the second highest percentage of empty shops in the country.

The remaining traders, then, still need all the help they can get to pull in the shoppers – including making parking for them as cheap as possible.