EURO MP Giles Chichester called in to Tavistock's pannier market on Friday to listen to traders' problems.
Market traders feel that since the recent development of Bedford Square their businesses have suffered. They say this is largely a result of coach parties staying away from the town because drivers cannot drop their passengers off in the square.
Mr Chichester spent an hour discussing the traders' problems, and was joined by the prospective parliamentary Conservative candidate for West Devon and Torridge, Geoffrey Cox, town mayor Judith Williams, and West Devon councillors Dick Eberlie and Pat Warne.
Joyce Bradman from Jo Ann's Day Tours said since the square was built trade had dropped off.
She said it was a long way to walk from the coach park near the Wharf, and passengers dropped off outside the Bedford Hotel were 'dicing with death' crossing the two busy roads.
'It's just not fair on us traders,' she said. 'We need more people dropped in the square and told there's a market here.'
Friday traders' rep Chris Tolley supported that view: 'We want coaches to be able to park on the square. If they can park up there it will encourage them to stop. We have the Goose Fair on there — it's quite capable,' he said.
Market reeve Keith Spiers said the coach drivers were having various difficulties with the new traffic system and it was difficult to encourage them to come back.
It was not just coaches that had been discouraged— car drivers were expected to pay £3.30 to park for the day in the town. 'That's a lot of money,' he said.
Trader Alan Elias, who invited Mr Chichester to visit, estimated a thousand cars a week had been moved out of the town and he said they were now doing their shopping at Safeway, where they could park for nothing.
Mr Chichester later said: 'I heard a number of traders expressing very serious concerns about the impact on their businesses and the impact on the town because of the change in the street architecture here. Clearly, from their point of view, it doesn't seem to be working.'
He said it was not really a matter for him, but he was happy to come and listen and see if there were anything that could be done.
Mr Chichester suggested the scheme was ill-thought out and said there needed to be agreement between the various interested parties on what were the problems. They then needed to get together to fix them.
He said he would take the opportunity to urge the county council to carry out its promise to conduct a traffic survey.
'We can't undo what's been done, so let's find some way of adjusting it to address the problems,' he said.