When going to bag those Christmas bargains, additional charges like car parking are often a cloud over our Christmas spirit.

With the Christmas season squeezing more and more money from us, it's always nice to make savings where we can, and to join in the festive spirit some councils across Kent are offering free car parking during December.

It is also hoped that it will encourage as many shoppers as possible to shop locally for their presents and support smaller businesses.

Alison Parmar, development manager at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "Any action that encourages more shoppers to pop into their local town is great - so a bit of free parking during December in fabulous.

"What we'd like to see is that kind of attitude all year round, so buying in a local shop isn't just for Christmas is every other month of the year.

"Those short-term flexible parking bays are very helpful for those busy shoppers who just want to pop in and get a couple of things and would be really happy to do that in an independent shop if there was that short-term parking bay nearby.

"It's great having it during the shopping period, of course everyone's busy buying presents for friends and loved ones, but we forget that that might actually work for the rest of the year as well."

There's no doubt that with technology progressing at such a high rate, online shopping has taken a hike in recent years, with more of us hitting the web for presents rather than the highstreet.

The development manager also said: "I think generally most small businesses in Kent are really flexible and pretty adaptable, so those that can trade online adapt to that and they sell online as well as in their shop or business or whatever they might have.

"Online shopping has been around for such a long time now that those businesses can sell online do.

"For those who haven;t got the service to sell online, often the website or online presence is a great shop front - it's a great way to get your brand and message out there to a wider audience."

Dover

Shoppers heading to Dover this festive season are in luck as car park charges are being lifted from Monday, December 19 right through until Monday, January 2 - including free on-street parking.

For Small Business Saturday, car parking in all council off street car parks will be free!

Alison Parmar said: "Things like the national campaign Small Business Saturday are brilliant ways of highlighting the diversity and the love and care that independent businesses put into all of their products.

"We've seen, with the Small Business Saturday campaign that in its fourth year, the amount spent with independant businesses has gone up, and from last year's figures it went up £100,000,000 just on the one day.

"When people make that effort and they do go to their local shops, it really helps the local community as a whole.

"We're seeing that trend in a positive way, people are really happy to support the local producers and enjoy buying from local shops."

All other parking restrictions like yellow lines will continue to be enforced throughout the district.

Ashford and Tenterden

For shoppers in Ashford and Tenterden there's also good news as Ashford Borough Council are offering free parking in council-owned car parks on the three Sundays leading up to Christmas.

Festive free parking will be available in all council-run car parks in Ashford and Tenterden on Sunday, December 4, 11, and 18.

Portfolio holder for transportation, highways and engineering, Cllr Brad Bradford, said: “We are delighted to once again offer free parking in Ashford and Tenterden on selected Sundays in the run up to Christmas.

“One of the busiest shopping periods of the year is the festive season and Ashford and Tenterden have a lot to offer shoppers; we encourage residents to support their home town by doing their Christmas shopping locally and help boost trade for our hardworking, home-grown businesses.”

All car parks run by Ashford Borough Council are free after 6pm all year round.

Don’t forget you can park for free in pay and display parking bays in the High Street, North Street and Bank Street after 6pm from Monday to Saturday, and all day on Sundays.

Sevenoaks

Sevenoaks District Council is giving the gift of free parking this Christmas, scrapping charges in all council car parks on Saturday, December 10 and 17.

Charges will also be waived on streets where the council charge for parking, and shoppers will be able to park without the need to display a ticket.

But usual restrictions will apply, meaning cars must park in a valid space and can stay no longer than the usual maximum stay.

This is to give all shoppers fair access to the free parking.

Cllr Matthew Dickins the Portfolio Holder for Direct and Trading Services, says: “Christmas is one of the busiest and most important times of the year for high streets throughout the District.

“Offering our popular free Christmas Parking is our way of saying thank you to those who support our local towns and businesses.”

For more information on car parks visit

www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/carparks

Visitors can also view real time parking space availability in Sevenoaks town by downloading the Council’s free parking app which is available on iPhone and Android by searching for ‘Sevenoaks District Parking’.

Medway

All Medway council car parks will be free to park in on selected dates throughout the Christmas build up.

Upcoming dates are:

• Saturday, December 17
• Sunday, December 18
• Monday, December 19
• Tuesday, December 20

Tunbridge Wells

Shoppers in Tunbridge Wells will be able to park for free in all council car parks from 4pm from Monday, December 19 until Christmas Eve inclusive.

Thanet

Although not special for the festive period, the following car parks are free of charge all year round on Saturdays:

• Leopold Street multi-storey car park, Ramsgate
• Mill Lane multi-storey car park, Margate
• Harold Road car park, Cliftonville
• Vere Road car park, Broadstairs

However, free parking for late night shopping is on offer in Ramsgate on the Thursday's leading up to Christmas.

Except the Ramsgate Harbour areas, Ramsgate car parks and street parking will be free of charge from 5pm.

Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay

In Canterbury, the council office car park in Military Road is free of charge on the Saturdays and Sundays throughout December.

In Whitstable, all the off-street pay and display car parks are free up to 10am each day.

In Herne Bay, there is free parking on Central Parade. The maximum stay is four hours.

In addition, the first two hours of parking in William Street car park each day are free.

The cost of the park and ride service will be reduced in Canterbury to £1 after 4pm -which is perfect for late night shopping.

Shepway

Hit the highstreet in the Shepway district and enjoy free parking in all of the council's pay and display car parks and on-street bays on Saturday, December 10, 17 and 24.

Swale

In the Swale district, the council are offering a free park and ride scheme to help out seasonal shoppers.

The service will run in the three main towns - Faversham, Sheerness and Sittingbourne.

It launches on Small Business Saturday and will also run on Saturday, December 10 and 17.

Buses will depart every 15 minutes from t

hree sites in each town between 9am and 5.30pm.

Sadly for shoppers in Gravesham, Tonbridge and Malling and Maidstone there will be no free festive parking.

However, there is free parking all year round on Sunday in Tonbridge and Malling and in Gravesham shoppers also enjoy two hours free on Saturdays and all day on Sunday.

Alison Parmar said: "We'd love everyone to join in on Small Business Saturday, even if you're unable to pop out to the shops, you can join in online - follow the hashtag #SmallBizSatUk, you can take a look on Facebook or Twitter or have a look for your local businesses and support them online.

"If you are able to go out and about, then check into your local businesses and buy your mince pies and your Christmas presents in your local highstreet."