GT Reading — Test 9

Reading passage

TEXT A — Melford Borough Council: Residents' Parking — Zone F From Monday 7 September, all vehicles parked on streets within Zone F (Alder Road, Birchfield Avenue, Compton Lane and the adjoining cul-de-sacs) between 8.30 am and 6.30 pm, Monday to Saturday, must display a valid residents' permit or a visitor voucher. Motorcycles are exempt and may stand in any permit bay. A first permit costs £48 a year; a second permit for the same household costs £96, and no household may hold more than two. Each permit is tied to one vehicle registration number and cannot be moved to a different car unless the council is notified first. Blue Badge holders park free of charge in any permit bay but must still register with the Parking Office. Books of ten visitor vouchers are sold at the Town Hall; each voucher covers one calendar day. Apply online at melford.gov.uk/permits or in person at the Town Hall — bring proof of address dated within the last three months together with your vehicle logbook. Postal applications are no longer accepted. Allow ten working days for processing; a temporary paper permit can be issued on the spot in urgent cases. Vehicles displaying neither a permit nor a voucher will receive a Penalty Charge Notice of £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days. Appeals must be made in writing within 28 days. ———————————— TEXT B — ParkEasy at Wharf Street — Undercover Parking in Central Melford Tired of circling the block? ParkEasy's multi-storey car park on Wharf Street offers 420 spaces across five covered levels, just two minutes' walk from the railway station and the Riverside Shopping Quarter. Tariffs: up to one hour £2.20; up to three hours £5.50; all day £9.00 if you enter before 9.30 am. A flat rate of £3.50 applies after 6 pm, and on Sundays and bank holidays you pay £4.00 for the whole day. Reserve ahead through the free ParkEasy app and save 15% on any stay of three hours or longer. App users also receive a digital receipt automatically — handy if you claim travel expenses. Season tickets for commuters cost £135 a month and guarantee a space on Level 1 before 10 am on weekdays. The site is staffed around the clock, covered by CCTV and holds the Park Mark safer-parking award. Please note the height limit of 2.1 metres: high-sided vans should use our open-air site on Tannery Road instead. Electric vehicle charging is offered on Level 2 at 45p per kWh, and charging bays may be occupied for a maximum of four hours. Questions? Call 0161 496 0555 or visit parkeasy-melford.co.uk. ———————————— TEXT C — Street Cleaning in Melford — How It Works Melford Borough Council cleans every street according to a published rota. Main shopping streets are swept daily before 9 am; residential roads are cleaned once a fortnight; and back alleys are visited once every eight weeks. On your street's cleaning day, temporary signs are put up at least 24 hours in advance asking residents to move their cars by 7.30 am so that the mechanical sweeper can reach the kerb. Cars left in place will not be fined, but the sweeper cannot clean around parked vehicles, and those sections of kerb will simply be missed until the next visit. During leaf-fall season, from October to December, streets with mature trees receive extra collections. These visits are additional to the normal rota and are not signposted. To check your street's next cleaning date, enter your postcode at melford.gov.uk/streetcare. The same page can be used to report a missed clean, an overflowing litter bin or fly-tipping; most reports are dealt with inside three working days. For hazards such as broken glass outside a school gate, phone the Streetcare hotline on 0161 496 0300 and a rapid-response team will attend within four hours.