Reduced parking charges piloted in North Finchley town centre as part of a consultation will be made permanent.

Barnet Council has confirmed the temporary changes introduced in November 2012 will be made permanent from Monday, December 9.

The changes, which have been made as part of a town centre review, include an option to park for free for a maximum of 15 minutes in selected bays, an introduction of a 15 minute on-street parking tariff and a 35 per cent reduction in all other parking tariffs.

Other changes include the conversion of ‘medium stay’ pay-by-phone parking places to ‘short stay’ in Britannia Road, and new ‘short stay’ pay-by-phone parking places in Friern Watch Avenue.

Loading bays have also been changed to ‘split use’ with loading between 8am to 10am and 4pm to 6.30pm and 15-minute maximum stay free parking between 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday in Stanhope Road.

Some disabled parking spaces have also been converted to ‘short stay’ pay-by-phone and new disabled spaces have been introduced in Friern Park and High Road.

Councillor Dean Cohen, cabinet member for environment, said: “I am delighted to see that these measures have been made permanent. I am certain that they will continue to have a positive effect on our high-streets, especially through this holiday period.

“When I became the cabinet member for environment, I wanted to stray away from the one size fits all model – and with the help of traders and customers we are putting into place changes that work for the individual character of each town centre in Barnet.”