Parking in Shropshire: Which Car Parks Are Free on Sunday

There is no single Sunday rule in Shropshire, and the difference between two car parks a few hundred metres apart can be the whole ticket.

In Shrewsbury, Frankwell Main and Abbey Foregate are free on Sundays and bank holidays. Bridge Street and St Austin’s Street are half price. Raven Meadows charges a flat £2.40 for the day. And every metered on-street bay in the town centre charges the full £3.60 an hour, seven days a week, Sundays and bank holidays included.

The pattern, once you see it, is consistent: the cheap long-stay car parks go free on a Sunday, the expensive short-stay ones go half price, and the street never does either.

Shrewsbury car parks

Charges apply 8am to 6pm unless noted. Every council car park is free between 6pm and 8am. Figures are from each car park’s own page on Shropshire Council’s car park directory.

Raven Meadows is the odd one out and the one worth understanding. It charges 24 hours a day, but the charge is capped: eight hours maximum between 8am and midnight, and a two-hour cap between 6pm and 8am, so an evening or an overnight stay costs no more than £4.80. Lose the ticket and it is £19.20 a day. The height barrier is 2m.

Two Shrewsbury car parks flood. The council warns on both the Frankwell Main and St Julian’s Friars pages that they close in prolonged wet weather, and it repeats the warning to anyone buying a resident permit for them. If you are choosing between two permits at the same price, that matters.

The rest of the county

The council’s page for Oswestry Festival Square contradicts itself. Its charging hours table says parking is free on public holidays, while the charges listed lower down the same page say half price on Sundays and bank holidays. The statutory charging notice puts Festival Square in Band 3 at 70p on Sundays and public holidays, which is the half price figure. Take a photo of the sign on the machine before you leave the car.

Gobowen railway station is free. The council runs a 101-space long-stay car park at The Cross, SY11 3JR, and it is free 24 hours a day, every day, with no charging hours at all. For anyone in or around Oswestry taking the train, that is the cheapest park-and-rail in the county.

On-street: no Sunday break anywhere

On-street pay and display runs Monday to Sunday, 8am to 6pm in all three charging towns, per the council’s on-street parking page.

• Shrewsbury, £3.60 an hour, minimum charge £1.80 for 30 minutes. Covers Beeches Lane, Belmont, Castle Gates, Castle Street, Chester Street, Claremont Street, College Hill, Fish Street, Mardol, Princess Street, Priory Road, Quarry Place, Roushill, St Chad’s Terrace, St Mary’s Place, Victoria Avenue and Wyle Cop.
• Ludlow red zone, £2.80 an hour: Broad Street, Castle Square, Corve Street, Dinham, Lower Broad Street, Lower Mill Street, Lower Raven Lane, Mill Street and Silkmill Lane.
• Ludlow blue zone, £1.20 an hour: Coronation Avenue and Linney.
• Ellesmere, £1.40 an hour: Mereside.

An hour on Wyle Cop costs more than five hours at Abbey Foregate.

What changed, and by how much

Charges rose on 3 November 2025, and the increases were not even. From the council’s own notice of variation, dated 8 October 2025:

• Shrewsbury on-street: £2.80 to £3.60 an hour, up 29%
• Ludlow red zone on-street: £2.00 to £2.80 an hour, up 40%
• Ludlow blue zone on-street: 80p to £1.20 an hour, up 50%
• Frankwell Main, Frankwell Quay, Frankwell Riverside, Bridgnorth Riverside and Much Wenlock Back Lane: 80p to £1.20 an hour, up 50%
• Bridge Street, St Austin’s Street and the Quarry: £2.00 to £2.80 an hour, up 40%
• Raven Meadows: £2.00 to £2.40 an hour, up 20%

Season tickets and resident permits at the long-stay car parks rose furthest. A twelve-month season ticket for Frankwell Main went from £640 to £960, and the resident permit from £512 to £768, both up 50% in one step.

Permits

Shrewsbury households on a qualifying street can apply for up to two digital resident permits, one registration each, valid only in the single car park they choose. Prices from the Shrewsbury residents’ scheme page:

You need your council tax account number as proof of eligibility, permits are limited in number at each car park, and a permit does not guarantee a space. There is nothing to display: enforcement officers check the registration on a handheld.

Season tickets are open to anyone. At the Band 4 car parks, including Frankwell Main, they run £40 a week, £140 a month, £360 for three months, £600 for six and £960 for twelve. At the Band 5 car parks, including Abbey Foregate and Shirehall Overflow, it is £24 a week, £82 a month, £210 for three months, £350 for six and £560 for twelve. Bridgnorth, Church Stretton, Ellesmere, Ludlow, Market Drayton, Much Wenlock, Oswestry, Prees Heath, Wem and Whitchurch all have their own schemes, plus separate hotel and guest house tickets.

Blue badge holders pay

This is the detail that catches people out most often, and the council states it on every car park page in the same words:

Charges apply for Blue Badge holders: one extra hour will be added to time purchased.

So a badge in a Shropshire council car park buys you an extra hour, not a free stay. Enforcement officers can and do inspect badges.

One concession does exist. Since 12 March 2026 the council has run a 12-week grace period for expired badges, brought in because renewals were taking too long. It applies only in Shropshire Council car parks and locations, so it is worth nothing the moment you cross into Telford and Wrekin or Powys, and it does not cover any other contravention.

The 15-minute grace period

The council allows 15 minutes to buy a ticket in a paid bay. If you only need a quarter of an hour, you do not need to pay at all. That is set out on its kerbside and bay parking page, which also confirms enforcement officers have no PCN targets and are not paid per ticket. Some contraventions, parking in a bus stop among them, get an instant PCN with no observation period.

Park and ride

Three sites serve Shrewsbury: Oxon (near Bicton Heath, SY3 5AD), Meole Brace and Harlescott. Parking at all three is free. You pay per person for the bus.

• Standard return: £2
• Concessionary pass holder return: £1, after 9.30am
• Accompanied under-16s: free, and they cannot travel unaccompanied
• Four-week saver: £32, valid only if you park at one of the three sites
• Walkers who board without parking: £2 each way

Buses run every 12 minutes from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and 10am to 4pm on Saturdays. First bus 7.20am, last bus back from the town centre 6.30pm.

Two warnings from the council’s own park and ride pages. There is no service on Sundays or most bank holidays, and the car parks are locked on those days too, so it is not a free Sunday car park. And Oxon and Meole Brace are locked shortly after the last bus arrives, around 6.40pm. If your car is inside, releasing it costs a £60 call-out fee, cash only, on 0345 678 9006.

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• Shropshire council tax bands
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