Co-op Live blasted for 'taking advantage' with £25 parking fee

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The new Co-op Live arena has been criticised for charging £25 a car to park there. The arena, which is close to the Etihad Stadium, has only one official car park, located next to it off Alan Turing Way, and parking spots must be pre-booked online ahead of an event.

But the standard fee of £25 has not gone down well with Mancunians, who have accused bosses there of 'taking advantage'. It comes after the price of food and drinks at the venue - including an £8.95 Guinness and an £11.50 burger - have already been branded 'an absolute joke'. Read more: Co-op Live was days from opening, then it all went wrong Commenting on an article that mentioned the parking fee, one reader said: "Wow 25 quid for parking, £8.95 for a pint, such great Manchester value!" And one ticket-holder, who will be visiting the site in June to watch The Killers, told us: "I was shocked when I found out it's going to cost me £25 to park.

It feels like they're really taking advantage of drivers when the car is really my only option of getting there. "It already costs so much to get tickets to these concerts, without having to pay so much extra on top of that." It's not been a great start for the venue so far.

A test event on Saturday had its capacity reduced from 11,000 to 4,000 at the last minute, forcing bosses to cancel tickets for the VIP event.