Stress-free parking at Christmas

Here's some advice to shoppers on securing the perfect parking space ahead of the busiest shopping days of Christmas.

1. Cost

Deciding where to park can have a huge impact on cost, it's been known for some parking charges to cost more than the presents themselves. So, it's always worth having a look to see if your town have special offers on parking around the festive season - some towns have reduced rates on certain days and for late night shopping it is often free.

2. Choose wisely

Think about where you leave your vehicle in a multi-story car park - always choose your space on when you plan to return, it is never nice to return to the only car left on the top floor of a now relatively empty car park. You might want to check out the security facilities in the car park if you're coming back late. Knowing there's someone monitoring cameras or on hand is preferable.

At any one time, 30% of drivers on UK roads are in city centres searching for a parking space, on average it takes 10-15 minutes to find somewhere to park and during busy periods that time frame gets bigger! So, make sure you add the time it will take to get parked up into your time plan for the day, or maybe even pre-book a space

3. Security

Choose a car park which has a cer...