Edinburgh Woollen Mill staff who are due to transfer to the firm's new national HQ in Carlisle will get free city council car parking.

Councillors approved the free use of 75 spaces at the city's Devonshire Walk car park as a report confirmed that staff at the High Street clothing chain's Langholm HQ will begin transferring to Carlisle from July 30.

Around 190 staff will move to the former Rufus House in Castle Street, which has undergone a major redevelopment. Eventually, more than 300 staff will be based there.

The free parking - worth around £40,000 - will be made available for three years, and is part of an incentives package that includes time-limited rate relief.

It aims to encourage businesses to come to the city. The initiative has been enthusiastically welcomed by politicians and business people.

"We have said from the outset that we want to be a business friendly council," said Council Leader Colin Glover. "City centres are changing rapidly: they need retail, a leisure offering, and they have to be workplaces.

"The footfall that naturally creates will boost other businesses.This is a prime example of that.

"The relocation will bring more than 300 employees and we know that Carlisle was in competition for this with other places."

Addressing the council's ruling executive committee, which approved the free parking initiative, Councillor Glover added: "It's another step to show we are a business friendly council.

"This was a competitive process with organisations across the region."

Councillor Anne Quilter, responsible for culture, leisure, and heritage, told the meeting: "If you look at the benefits 75 [parking spaces] doesn't seem a lot. But it does bring back a building that is in the centre of town back into use.

"It is a good incentive to bring Edinburgh Woolen Mill here."

A council report on the issue said two thirds of the city's Castle Car Park, in Devonshire Walk, is usually unused so the free parking will not impact on other businesses or residents. The other benefits of the free parking include:

* Boosting Carlisle's profile by supporting a company with an international profile.

* The economic boost from staff spending in Carlisle's shops, cafes and restaurants

* And reviving a formerly unused and difficult-to-let business.

Steve Matthews, from Bookends in Castle Street, welcomed the free parking move. "Edinburgh Woollen Mill will be a fantastic asset for Carlisle City Centre because nobody else would have taken that building," he said.

"The job of the Council is to use whatever leverage it has to get companies like Edinburgh Woollen Mill into the city centre. I support what they're doing. It's an intelligent use of their resources."

Carlisle MP John Stevenson agreed.

He said: "We exist in a competitive environment and Carlisle City Council has to be proactive in their efforts to attract business investment.

"They have to look at their planning role, and also at their car parking, and their overall attitude to encouraging investment."

In an earlier statement, Edinburgh Woollen Mill said that around half of the staff currently at its existing Langholm HQ commute from Carlisle. The company is owned by billionaire Philip Day, who lives near Brampton. Rufus House has been unused for several years.