A PETITION raised in protest at a steep hike in car parking charges in Tavistock was handed in to West Devon Borough Council this week.
The petition, started by supermarket giant Somerfield, was started after the hourly charge in car parks owned by the borough jumped from 60p to 80p per hour on April 4.
Staff at Somerfield, which refunds its customers? parking charges from the Brook Street car park, were furious at the size of the increase ? and the lack of consultation by the borough prior to the move.
Somerfield deputy manager Colin Durant said his store had collected 1,500 signatures on the petition. Independent retailers in Brook Street have also raised hundreds of names.
Mr Durant said: ?We are still getting customers complaining. It?s not so much the locals because they know about it now, but we have a lot of visitors to the town who say how surprised they are at how expensive it is and that Tavistock is a terrible place to park.
?One guy from up-country told me that where he lives the council is trying to encourage people into the town by reducing the cost ? they?re going the other way completely here.
?It?s crazy, specially for people who just want to come in to one or two shops.?
Mr Durant was due to hand the petition to the borough council at its offices in Tavistock yesterday (Wednesday).
Brook Street trader John Follett said he had received many comments from customers about the petition.
?They are incensed by the abuse of local people?s feelings in this ? I wish Somerfield the best of luck ? we?re all behind them,? he said.
The borough council told the Times that the authority had been faced with huge budgetary pressures and had a stark choice.
It was decided most residents would prefer to pay more for parking than face increases in their council tax, said Cllr Dick Eberlie, chairman of the borough?s policy committee.