WINCHESTER city centre is braced for one of the busiest days in its history as the Christmas rush and booming tourist trade converge on the High Street.

Thousands of people from across the south are set to descend on the city today as Coca-Cola’s Christmas truck makes its only Hampshire stop.

• Coca-Cola truck in Winchester - in pictures >>

But a leading business chief has raised fears that the city may struggle to handle the influx, with parking spaces already at a premium.

Catherine Turness, executive director of Winchester BID, said: “They want to expand their Christmas offer and it’s all well and good – we need to have that infrastructure.

“There’s still a lot for the council to do to in making sure that the city is ready in terms of infrastructure for these major events.

“A lot more should be done on parking,” she said, adding that people should wait and see how the Coca-Cola event goes.

The city council is urging motorists to keep off central roads and has moved the event from the High Street following safety concerns.

Cllr James Byrnes, portfolio holder for local economy, tourism and parking, said: “I don’t think it will be too much of a problem, personally.

“Parking is at capacity anyway which is why we’ve encouraged people to use the park and ride and use the train and come earlier in the day.”

Delays to 200 new park and ride spaces at Pitt has added to pressure on spaces.

Shoppers have already travelled to Winchester in potential record numbers, with tourism chiefs expecting no end to trends which have seen the number of day trippers increase by a more than a million in four years.

People from as far as the Isle of Wight are expected to visit the Coca-Cola Truck for photos and free drinks on the last Thursday before Christmas.

The event, based on the firm’s festive adverts, will now be outside the Guildhall from 12pm to 8pm. Organisers changed the location on the advice of two safety consultants.

It comes as new figures show the number of annual day visitors to Winchester has risen by a third in recent years, from 4.3 million in 2010 to 5.6 million in 2014.

Daily Echo: The Coca-Cola truck

Ellen Simpson, head of tourism at the city council, said: “People are coming for a reason – to treat themselves.”

Local businesses made £350 million from visitors last year, up by nearly half on 2008, according to statistics from Tourism South East.

And while tourists support an estimated 5,500 local jobs, not every business is happy with how the city’s Christmas offering has evolved. Shopkeepers in Parchment Street were unhappy about blocked access.