BUSINESSES in Nottingham will be charged up to £300 per car a year for using a workplace parking space if the authority gets Government approval to pilot a charging scheme. The charges would start at £100 in the first year - probably 2003 - and by the time the scheme was fully implemented five years later, every business would be paying £300 each for every one of more than 50,000 workplace spaces in the city.

Nottingham would issue licences to business which had paid their annual levy. It would then be the business's decision whether to pass on the charges to staff. Revenue produced is estimated at £4.4 million, rising to £13.2 million a year over the five years. The payback promised includes improved buses and a tram service set for introduction in 2003. There are suggested exemptions for businesses with fewer than 25 employees, for weekend parking and orange badge holders.