Bad weather and the Euros have hit summer parking but the Blackpool Air Show has helped boost council coffers

The council's Annual Car Parking Performance Report also shows despite dips in usage, parking revenue for the first part of the current financial year is £150,000 ahead compared to the same time last year.

Parking is seen as an indicator for the visitor economy, and the report warns bad weather as well as big sporting events including the Euros football tournament and the Paris Olympics have damaged tourism this summer, while there has also been an impact from the cost of living crisis.

Investment in car parks saw the new Central multi-storey open in May this year with 1,306 spaces. Figures show up until August, it generated £211,017 in income, with patronage of almost 26,000. It was used to full capacity during the Blackpool Air Show.

Figures show on-street parking increased by 3,000 users during the 2023/24 financial year. While fewer people parked on the Promenade (down 5,000 users), this has been offset by more people parking in the town centre.

The council says this is "directly linked to the extended Illuminations season and the Christmas By The Sea village which returned to the Tower Festival Headland for a third year, attracting record numbers of visitors over the winter months".

However, the report warns of a disappointing performance between April and August this year, saying: "There is no doubt that weather has been the major factor at play with around 26,000 fewer patrons compared to the same period last year.

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"This has been exacerbated by continuing pressures on household budgets and by the staging of both the Euros football tournament and the Paris Olympics in quick succession. Evidence shows that major sporting events invariably have a dampening effect on domestic tourism.

"The main impact was in May and June when a long run of poor weather saw significant year-on-year losses. There was a big improvement as we moved into a better spell of weather in the latter half of July and the early part of August."

Parking was boosted by events such as the Blackpool Air Show in August with more than 350,000 people attending over the two days.

However despite the downturn parking income is around £150k ahead of the previous year due to increases in ticket prices on some car parks.