TOUGH talking council chiefs are set to sting motorists who overstay their welcome at a town centre car park.

They want to make sure that the car park at the re-vamped Bolton market at Ashburner Street is only used by people who shop there.

So anyone, who parks for more than two hours will be charged a staggering £5 an hour! Short term parking will be much cheaper at just 40p for the first hour, 60p for one and a half hours and £1 for two hours.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, chairman of the council's contract services sub committee, explained: "No doubt there will be complaints, but I am more than happy to justify this.

"The aim is for this car park to be for market customers only. We don't want people who work in the town centre parking there all day."

Meanwhile, council chiefs are now confident that all the work will finally be finished by the end of the summer.

The re-vamp has been dogged with problems since it was first announced five years ago.

The scheme reached crisis point in 1995 when it was £1 million over budget, 18 months behind schedule and embroiled in legal wrangles.

But now it is almost complete and council chiefs are planning a special ceremony to mark the completion of the project.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.