Croydon Council called it “an early Christmas present”, after they announced a suspension of car parking fees and pay-and-display charges to “make it easier for residents to prepare for and enjoy the festive season”.

The truth, inevitably, is a somewhat different, according to a well-placed Katharine Street source.

“They don’t want to pay Christmas overtime rates to the parking wardens,” our Town Hall insider said.

The cost of staffing for traffic control is paid for out of the money the council rakes in from resident parking permits and car parking charges, so it ought to be able to budget for wardens to patrol the borough’s streets throughout the year, with the usual exception of public holidays.

But Croydon will be free of all parking enforcement on Christmas Eve (Monday, December 24 – a normal working day not usually regarded as a Bank Holiday), and New Year’s Eve (like Christmas Eve, not a bank holiday), as well as Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

It is hardly exuding generosity to the public: the council does not enforce parking restrictions on bank holidays anyway. But it means that the borough’s traffic wardens will be able to put their feet up for two especially long weekends.

Car drivers beware, though: parking charges in areas not controlled by the council will still apply and yellow line, bus lane and footway restrictions will, according to the council “still be enforced”, which if usual practice is followed, means that they will be hardly enforced at all.

The council states, “Normal parking enforcement will take place from December 27 to 30 and will resume from Wednesday January 2, 2019.”

• Please support Inside Croydon’s award-winning, news-breaking local journalism. It’s just £4 per month, and you qualify for special discounts and offers. Click here to sign-up as a donor