BOURNEMOUTH'S Castlepoint shopping park has being hailed as a huge success by bosses having attracted around £10 million visitors since it opened a year ago.

The centre has already won a string of awards and with more than half of visitors returning at least 10 times, its success is likely to continue.

But with the busy Christmas season fast approaching, traffic flow in and out of the centre is becoming heavier and some shoppers claim it has taken them up to an hour to get out.

But bosses at the centre on Castle Lane West have urged shoppers to be patient during busy periods.

A spokesman said: "We appreciate there is a huge demand to use the facilities at Castlepoint. As Christmas approaches we have longer shopping hours whereby some shops are open until 9pm or 10pm most nights. We would ask our shoppers to make best use of the range of hours if they possibly can."

Kevin Moore, town centre manager, said: "Castlepoint has had an effect on trading in the town centre but we are working with them to make sure that Bournemouth town centre continues to be a profitable place to do business and attract the new customers to the Bournemouth area into the town centre."

Peter Goodson, managing secretary of Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce, praised the "excellent" management at the centre.

He added: "Clearly the town centre must have suffered but I would attribute that to the suicidal policy of Bournemouth Borough Council with excessive parking charges and change in car parking facilities.

"Visitors will be attracted to Castlepoint because of the large number of parking spaces that are free of charge."

But Roger Ball, Head of Technical Services at Bournemouth Borough Council, said: "Last year we ran focus groups with randomly selected local people asking what budget savings could be made.

"There was a strong feeling from the groups that parking should be paid for by those who use it, and if you compare our parking charges with the private sector provision in the town we are still very competitive.

"We've run some successful events which attract people into the town centre, such as the French Markets."

Castlepoint offers 38 stores and 3,000 free parking spaces.

Commercial director Robert Hall said: "It has been an exciting and successful first year of trading for Castlepoint, and we have greatly appreciated the support from our traders and our many customers in making it a success."

Castlepoint Library - which replaced the former Strouden library building - has attracted more than 160,000 people.

Castlepoint has also become an integral part of the local community by supporting a wide range of schemes including donations to projects at Muscliffe, Queen's Park and Townsend Primary Schools and Avonbourne School.

They have also provided and sponsored Football kits for the 11-17 youth teams at Bournemouth Electric Football Club.

First published: October 27