WORKERS in Bolton town centre argue that any parking price rises would eat into their hard-earned cash. Rachel Murray, a 21-year-old travel consultant at St Andrew's Travel said that parking for work now costs her £40 to £50 a month which alongside other bills amounted to a lot of money for someone in her position.

She said: "I am renting a house at the moment so I have large bills to pay. I don't mind paying to park but the way prices keep going up is unfair.

"Basically I could pay for a nice holiday somewhere warm with the amount of money I spend on parking every year."

"I come in early to get one of the cheaper spaces but if I miss them then it does cost me a lot of money. The other day I spent nearly £5 for the privilege of coming to work."

Miss Murray also could not see any benefits for regular parkers from the price rise.

She said: "In two years there have been six crimes against vehicles owned by people in this office and I will bet the extra money will not be spent on improved security."

She added: " They need to reduce the rates if they want to keep business here. They need to support Bolton because there is already too much competition from out-of-town retail outlets.