THE cost of parking permits for residents in a large part of Glasgow's West End is set to be slashed - but businesses will have to pay £700 a year to park near their premises.

Hillhead residents currently pay £135 for an annual permit allowing them to park at their homes. But the council is considering reducing this to £50 to bring the area into line with other parts of the city.

The area affected is bounded by Byres Road to the west, Great Western Road to the north, Caledonian Crescent and the River Kelvin to the east and Westbank Quadrant and University Avenue to the south.

A wide range of other changes are planned and have been put out to consultation.

Parking restrictions in Hillhead currently operate 8.45am to 5.15pm, five days a week. The plan is to extend them from 8am-10pm, Monday-Sunday.

Parking bays could be introduced that could be used by residents and visitors. Non-residents are currently banned from using resident-only bays.

The council is also planning to introduced additional disabled, car club and motorcycle parking spaces, while cyclists may be allowed to travel both ways along a number of one way streets.

There will also be changes to how much casual visitors to the area have to pay to park their cars.

It currently costs 10p for 20 minutes Monday-Friday, 8.45am-5.15pm. Under the new plans they will have to pay 20p for the first 30 minutes and 20p for every 10 minutes thereafter, restricted to a maximum stay of three hours.

Business parking permits will be introduced at a cost of £700 a year, while residents' visitor vouchers will come in at £2 for a set six-hour period.

A council spokesman said: "The tariff in Hillhead has not been revised since 1993 and will come into line with the rest of the West End, reducing long stay parking.

"It is important for businesses that parking bays are available for short term parking to those requiring access to specific locations."

A public exhibition of the proposals will be available at Hillhead Library from 2-8pm on Thursday, 9am- 5pm on Friday and 10am-2pm on Saturday.

The public has until March 14 to comment on the plans and should write to Traffic and Road Safety Manager, Land and Environmental Service, Exchange House, 231 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1RX, or e-mail saferparking@glasgow.gov.uk

vivienne.nicoll@ eveningtimes.co.uk