Shoppers using out-of-town supermarkets would be forced to pay for car parking under Conservative proposals to defend the traditional British high street. The Daily Telegraph

Under the proposals — which are contained in the party’s quality of life policy review that will be published on Thursday — councils would be given the power to demand that big supermarkets and other edge-of-town stores charge their customers for parking.

The 800-page report stresses that the parking charges would be no greater than the amount people would pay in the nearest Town Centre.

The policy review group, chaired by Zac Goldsmith and former Tory environment secretary John Gummer, added that the money raised would be used by the local authority to fund improved public transport.