A BID to force county council bosses to think again about charging residents for parking permits failed to win support this week.

Three councillors used their option to "call in" the decision to introduce an administrative charge for resident and visitor permits, and asked the members of a special Cumbria County Council scrutiny panel to explore other options.

After the meeting, one of the three, Kendal member Dave Clarke, said that although they had not been successful in having the original decision referred back to CCC, they had managed to raise some important issues about the principle of charging.

The three councillors called in the decision because they said there had been insufficient consultation in local areas about the charges, which would be used to cover the costs of administering permits. The disputed decision had been taken by the county council's cabinet in October.

See The Westmorland Gazette for the full story.