PARK and Ride buses in Colchester were packed out with nearly 25 per cent more passengers when the service was offered for free.

The freebie was put on to coincide with Small Business Saturday, a nationwide celebration of small businesses and traders, and meant users didn’t have to pay the usual fare of £3 per adult and £1 per child.

Essex County Council confirmed last night 696 people boarded the buses on Saturday, compared to 524 on the same Saturday in 2015 when the service wasn’t free.

Town centre traders said the freebie on Saturday should be a more regular occurrence.

Campaigners Jason Berry, of the Lampshade Company, and Iain Wicks, of the Federation of Small Businesses, came up wit h the idea for the one-off promotion.

They toured the town’s independent retailers on Saturday with Colchester’s Mayor Julie Young, to promote their #SmallBizSatUK social media campaign.

Mrs Young said: “I took the 9am service into Colchester and the bus was actually packed.

“I struggled to get a seat on the bus it was so well used.

“When I returned to the site later in the afternoon there were an awful lot of cars.

“From anecdotal evidence, Saturday was a great success.

“I think it was a really good idea for the county council to do that [free Park and Ride] because there has been a mixed reception to it but for me it was extremely easy. We were in town in no time, we didn’t have to sit in traffic once.”

Mrs Young (Lab), added the feedback she had received from users was the park and ride was cost effective for individuals as opposed to driving in and paying to park.

Despite admitting her own mayoral commitments means she still sticks to travelling to town by car, county and borough councillor Mrs Young said she would like free offers to become more frequent.

She said: “I would like to see the county council do that for specific days to support events.”

The £6.2 million Park and Ride finally opened in April 2015 after decades of talk, speculation and planning.

Since then, usage has come under scrutiny with Freedom of Information figures revealing it made £26,000 in its first three months charging passengers, but cost £185,650 to run.

Mr Berry said: it was thanks to various organisations pulling together including Colchester Council, Colbea, Essex Chambers of Commerce, Colchester Retail Business Association and Colchester Presents, that made Saturday a success.“The county council put their heads above the parapet and cost themselves some money and put the free park and ride on.”

Alice Charrington, who runs Tymperleys tea room in Trinity Street, Colchester, said: “We noticed we were extremely busy in the afternoon.

“The park and ride being free makes a huge difference, it just encourages more people to use it.

“Although it has had a lot of publicity, anything we can do to get more people using it is fantastic.

“It would make everyone’s lives , in the long run, much easier, whether it is a person who lives in the town and there being fewer cars, or the convenience for those using it.”

“A lot of people think it is complicated to use but it is not. I am a great fan of the Park and Ride.”

She added: “I do think Small Business Saturday is a great thing. Various businesses in Trinity Street were involved in it and I do know they had a busy Saturday. Everywhere was buzzing.”

Ron Levy, secretary of Colchester Retail Business Association (Corba), said: “Anything that increases foot fall in the town has got to be good for the town centre economy.

“The town centre was very busy on Saturday and I am sure the free Park and Ride passengers contributed to that.”