Monmouthshire County Council has backed down from a controversial proposal to hike parking charges for disabled drivers, it has emerged.

After listening to ‘concerns raised,’ MCC has suggested junking the controversial proposals met with ire from local disability groups.

A document seen by this newspaper states that Monmouthshire County Council will ‘revise’ its ‘savings proposals’ by scrapping the planned charges for blue badge holders to the tune of £45,000.

Councillors suggest also reintroducing free Christmas parking, introducing a two-hour concession for Sunday parking, and scrapping charges for HGVs at Abergavenny Bus Station.

The document also states commitments to ‘improve car parking enforcement arrangements and to allocate specific capital funding to improve signage and associated infrastructure for disabled parking users.’

Monmouthshire County Council did consult on proposals to introduce a £1 charge for parking on Sundays, as well as increasing current parking charges by 10 per cent as part of its budget plans.

Charges for blue badge holders were proposed after the first hour, while free parking at Christmas was also on the chopping board.