The distance of car parks from evening venues and "negative safety perceptions" have been highlighted as issues in a study of Stafford town centre's night-time economy.

Evening and weekend bus services were considered to be "weak", discouraging visitors from travelling into the county town to enjoy a night out at its entertainment spaces, bars and restaurants, a report written by borough councillors said.

The working group, made up of members of Stafford Borough Council's Economic Development and Planning Scrutiny Committee, spoke to local businesses, cultural event organisers and residents and visitors across a range of age groups.

Their findings were presented to the latest Economic Development and Planning Scrutiny Committee meeting and included "a mismatch between the perception of users that there is limited parking in the evenings and the reality that there is sufficient parking across the town centre."

It added: "We can quite easily determine where this perception comes from – the car parking spaces which are more likely to be filled are those on South Walls, directly adjacent to Verso, The Liquor Tank, the Odeon and the bowling alley, and those on Broad Street adjacent to the old Wilko building, which are generally considered to be the preferred parking spaces for the north end of Gaolgate Street, the Market Square and the Gatehouse Theatre.

"The Waterfront is 'never even close to full in the evenings', despite being only a tiny amount further than South Walls, which can fill up – the difference in the distance between the two is less than that of the front or the back of the Tesco car park.

"Stafford Town Centre has 1,054 car parking spaces currently available. In the feedback which has been collected it was noted that there had been a loss of convenient evening parking and that the distance of remaining car parks from key venues created problems."

There were also concerns raised about walking routes being "poorly lit."

The working group has recommended that ongoing work to improve Stafford town centre should include improved lighting on key pedestrian routes and clearly signed evening parking and taxi drop-off points.

Committee member cllr Andy McNaughton said: "I remember where Aldi is now (Kingsmead), there was a big free car park in the evening and that's where you parked when you went to the Gatehouse, or the one outside Wilko (Broad Street).

"Now we've got the Aldi there is a two-hour limit, and the Wilko is being redeveloped, and I don't think there's so much parking.

"There's Sainsbury's (Doxey Road) and other areas.

"But they are further away and less convenient."

Committee chair Cllr Frances Beatty said: "A certain member of the council made a similar claim, very vociferously, and said how disgraceful it was that they couldn't safely get to the Gatehouse from the North Walls car park anymore, and had to go a huge distance from the borough council car park here (Civic Centre).

"I did it, and it took exactly the same time from either direction – it's all perception.

"People love to park exactly where they are going in through a door.

"They don't want to walk."

Cllr Peter Jones said: "My wife and I are front of house volunteers at the Gatehouse and we have to park at the borough and walk.

"We do get complaints from people, maybe staying after 9pm for a performance, that they have to pay for a ticket, and questions about what time the supermarket car park shuts."

Cllr Doug Rouxel, who wrote the report, said: "The car park out here is not much further and the multistorey is only over the way.

"It's very big and in the evenings quite empty."

But Cllr Bryan Cross said the Waterfront Multi-Storey Car Park closes at 12am and is locked overnight.

"People going to a show who then want to go and have a drink have got to be very careful if they're in the multi-storey, otherwise they're locked in", he added.

Cllr Jon Powell said: "When I went out and met people it's very much a perception thing; people expect to be able to park at the door where they're going.

"I don't know many town centres that are like that nowadays – things have changed across the country.

"They also raised the issue of pricing.

"You have to pay for the evening, whereas years ago you didn't have to.

"For the sake of £1.20, I don't think any of us would seriously consider that an out of order amount to spend.

"Some of our car parks are not particularly welcoming – I speak of the North Walls long stay car park.

"One of the cllrs mentioned about walking from there to the Gatehouse.

"It isn't well-lit and it is a more quiet and not so salubrious area of town, you do have to walk past some buildings that are boarded up and it doesn't look particularly nice to walk round that way.

"When there's a show or something on at the Gatehouse it is used very well, because people have that herd safety.

"I think a lot of car parks are very similar; when you walk up past where Wilko was it's not particularly well-lit or particularly welcoming and it is something we could potentially have influence on."

Cllr Power also spoke of the perception of antisocial behaviour, "especially in the early evening, which tends to be the more senior members of the community who come here for something to eat".

He added: "They by nature have more of a perception or fear of potential issues like bad lighting or kids running around causing issues.

"That's something we can have an influence on.

"We are in a very fortunate position that there's more work going on in Stafford at the moment and we are going to be redeveloping a large amount of floorspace.

"I think we should continue talking to the people affected, not necessarily only the businesses, but also people who come in and use the facilities at the Gatehouse, restaurants and bars."

Stafford Borough Council is in the process of renewing its Public Space Protection Order covering the town centre, which includes proposals to help tackle antisocial behaviour.

A "balaclava ban", requiring people to remove face coverings if they are being used in connection with criminal activity or antisocial behaviour causing harassment, alarm or distress, was backed by more than 90% of people who took part in a consultation.

Recently four teenagers were fined for causing trouble in Stafford town centre. Council and police officers went to the homes of the boys to issue the £100 fixed penalty notices, which were handed either to the youngsters or their parents.