Barnstaple's Queen Street car park is set to reopen in November as the first phase of construction works comes to an end.

The town-centre car park will reopen on Friday, 8 November under its new name, Barnstaple Central.

The car park is to reopen with a temporary surface, this is due to the extended period of challenging weather which has saturated the sub-base of the car park. The temporary surface will allow the sub-base to drain sufficiently while the car park is in use.

The final surface will be laid once the works to the Bear Street car park are complete in February 2025.

In preparation of the car park reopening, both Queen Street and Bear Street car parks will become Barnstaple Central from Friday, 1 November.

The RingGo location zone for the Barnstaple Central is 23614. The codes for Queen Street and Bear Street will deactivate.

Lead Member for Economic Development and Regeneration at North Devon Council, Councillor Malcolm Prowse said: "It is great news that the Queen Street car park is able to reopen to our town centre visitors and we would like to thank everyone for their patience during this first phase of works. 

"Unfortunately the challenging weather over the last month has saturated the sub-base of the car park, and this needs time to drain before the final surface can be laid. Rather than plane the surface off now and compromise the quality of the finish, we have worked with our contractors to establish this temporary solution which means we can reopen the car park for the benefit of our local businesses and town centre visitors.

"The final surface will be laid once the works to Bear Street car park are complete, by which time the sub-base will have fully dried to allow the best possible finish to be achieved. This will involve a short closure, and we will provide further details about this in due course."

Works to the Queen Street and Bear Street car parks are part of the Barnstaple Market Quarter project. When complete, the car park works will improve the layout to provide one large car park with new lighting and landscaping; improved pedestrian walkways to Boutport Street, Queens Walk and Bear Street, and a new vehicular access off Alexandra Road.

Further details about the Market Quarter projects are available on the North Devon Council website.