ONE hundred new spaces will be in place in time for the Christmas rush, as a new car park is being built in High Wycombe.

The Westbourne Street Car Park, in the Desborough Road area, will eventually contain 300 extra places for shoppers when it is finished in October 2007.

However the area is currently being levelled and surfaced to provide an initial 100 car park spaces which will be avaliable in early December.

At the end of September work began with the demolition of the buildings formerly occupied by Diametrics Medical and Carousel Buses and this should now be completed by next Wednesday.

Councillor Peter Cartwright, Wycombe District Council's cabinet member for transport and employment, said: "We know that with the development of Eden, High Wycombe and the loss of Bridge Street Car Park there has been concern about the amount of parking available in the town.

"These additional spaces should help to reassure anyone planning a trip into High Wycombe that there are still plenty of spaces available for them to park and enjoy their visit." Further demolition will start at the end of October and will include the Deeter Building, Ubiquitous and Fleet House on Short Street.

Subject to planning consent, work will then begin early in the New Year to convert these areas into a further 60 spaces with the remainder of the parking becoming available before Christmas 2007. The surface car park is owned and managed by Wycombe District Council.