Parking in Bedford town centre is simple and convenient and all Council-owned car parks have a Park Mark accreditation award. See the clickable map at the bottom of the page for details of all our car parks.
Free parking
- Up to 4 hours at Allhallows and Lurke Street multi-storey car park Monday to Saturday.
- Up to 2 hours every Saturday in all Council town centre single and multi-storey car parks.
- All day every Sunday in Council-owned town centre car parks.
- Every day after 6pm in all town centre car parks except for River Street.
- Free on-street parking after 6pm, Monday - Saturday except for Castle Lane which is 11pm.
- First 2 hours parking free Monday to Saturday in Queen Street Car Park.
You may still need to put a 'pay and display' ticket on your vehicle.
Blue Badge holders
Free parking for Blue Badge holders in all Bedford Borough Council car parks. Badges must be displayed at all times.
Late night parking
Allhallows, Lurke Street and River Street multi-storey car parks are open 24 hours, 7 days a week. Lurke Street and Allhallows car parks offer free parking from 6pm to 8.30am.
Saturday parking
Parking is now free for up to 2 hours in all town centre multi-storey and surface car parks on Saturdays. This does not apply to on-street parking.
Available at:
- Allhallows multi-storey car park (4 hours)
- Lurke Street multi-storey car park (4 hours)
- Queen Street multi-storey car park
- River Street multi-storey car park
- Duckmill Lane surface car park
- Greyfriars surface car park
- St Peter's Street surface car park
- St Marys Gardens
Car park season tickets
Car park season tickets are parking permits which allow you to park in one of our car parks, reducing the average price of daily parking. With a season ticket, there is no need to visit a pay machine when you use the car park.
Find out which car parks you can buy a season ticket for, how much they cost and apply online for a season ticket on our season ticket webpage.
Toilets
Public toilets are available across the town centre. The first floor of River Street Multi Storey includes a ‘changing place’ toilet. The ‘Changing Place’ is open during the car park opening hours.
Use of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging bays
EV charging bays are only to be used for charging an electric vehicle.
You must pay the full parking fee whilst the vehicle is being charged.
You will be fined if:
your vehicle is not charging whilst you use an EV charging bay, or
you do not pay for parking whilst your vehicle is charging in an EV parking bay.
Avoid getting a fine
You must put a 'pay and display' ticket on your vehicle, even if the first 2 hours are free.
Check arrangements at the car park when you park your vehicle.
Displaying the free pay and display tickets helps us see how long vehicles have been parked for. This ensures a regular turnover of spaces and prevents abuse of the scheme.
If you want to park for longer than 2 hours, you will need to pay the relevant tariff.
Car parks map
Click the 'Parking' (P symbol) links on the map to see more information on each car park, including postcode, costs and chargeable hours.