As Falmouth gets ready for a second New Year of street works the town's leaders are pledging to do everything possible to keep trade high.

This includes free car parking every Friday and Saturday from when Western Power works begin on Monday, January 7, to reinforce the point that Falmouth remains very much open for business.

It is as the company continues its upgrade of the electrical system in Falmouth, the first phase of which began in January this year.

This time the work will take place in two sections. Firstly, it will reset the cobbles from Marks & Spencer to the Grapes, which were taken up at the start of this year, plus connect addresses to the new cable.

Church Street will also be worked on and properties in Market Street will be switched over to the new cabling.

Work will then progress from the Grapes towards Church Corner, replacing the cobbles there with a temporary tarmac solution while the next section of new cable is laid.

This time, Falmouth BID, the town council and Western Power have worked together to provide free parking in all Cornwall Council car parks in the town on not only Saturdays but also every Friday during the period of works, up until Friday, April 5.

The free shuttle bus service will also continue to run, on a slightly different route to take into account the restricted access.

At a meeting of Falmouth's traders last week, business owners were told that access would be maintained for deliveries and waste collection where possible.

Barriers that will be used to enforce the restrictions will be more substantial than last year, but used in smaller sections.

Work in the area around Toast in Church Street, where the road is particularly narrow, will take place outside of normal working hours.

Traders were told that during the first two weeks of the project it was likely that work would be carried out for seven days a week, but this would be confirmed at a later date.

Full details of the restrictions, access and everything shoppers need to know to continue visiting the town centre will be announced in early December, including in the Packet.