How paid-for Trafford Centre Premium Parking will work - everything we know so far

The Trafford Centre is introducing a paid-for parking area for the first time - to appeal to 'premium shoppers' heading to Selfridges and other stores inside the mall - and the plans have sparked plenty of debate among M.E.N readers. The Premium Parking area is currently under construction at the Upper Peel 5 car park.

The signs have already gone up, but the entry barriers are not yet in operation. The Trafford Centre say they will 'announce soon' more details of how the system will operate, how much it will cost and when it will all go live.

Since our article at the weekend, there has been plenty of comments from MEN readers about the plans, and lots of questions too about how it will all work. So here's everything we know so far about the plan.

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The transformation of the car park, next to the Selfridges entrance on Upper Peel 5, is already well underway - it has been resurfaced and re-lined over the past few months. The new Premium Parking area includes much wider spaces which are to accommodate 'larger vehicles and family cars', said to reflect the needs of 'premium shoppers"' heading into the centre.

This means the overall number of spaces in the area has reduced to cope with the bigger spaces - down from 247 to 199. The Premium Parking area is in one half of the Upper Peel 5 car park - the section on the Selfridges side.

Works are currently underway on the opposite side of the Upper Peel car park, but the Trafford Centre has confirmed this is part of the wider 'extensive refurbishment and improvement works' of the car parks across the site, and this section will NOT be part of the paid-for scheme.

The Premium Parking side has now reopened