TRADERS in Hexham have joined forces to call on members of Northumberland County Council’s west area committee to press for immediate action on car parking in the town.

A group of the town’s independent traders gathered at the meeting in Stocksfield last week to outline the “stranglehold” the current assortment of colour-coded bays and time limits is having on their businesses.

“As with all small businesses, we face a lot of challenges, but most of them we can handle and adjust our margins,” explained Mike Bottomley, who runs a handcrafted furniture business from the town.

“But when we are being told by our customers that they are being hounded by traffic wardens when they try to park in Hexham, or that they come into our businesses but can’t stay because of the parking situation, that is something beyond our control.

“We just want to know if the council can do anything else for us so we don’t have our customers frightened away.”

Their plea followed representations from 18 businesses who approached Hexham Town Council for help earlier this month.

Their proposal is based around allowing drivers to park for six hours in the existing white and blue bays, while making parking permits available for workers for up to 10 hours.

Coun. Cath Homer, who represents Hexham East, told the meeting that members of Hexham Town Council had been calling on Northumberland County Council to resolve the issue for the last few years.

“It’s the volume of spaces which have been lost that is also a concern,” said Coun. Homer.

“We lost 100 spaces at Loosing Hill, 60 at M&S when the B&M store was built and another 140 spaces there became short stay.

“Then we lost the spaces at Prospect House and 25 at the hospital when the fire station was built. I could go on.”

Coun. Derek Kennedy said: “My heart goes out to the traders.

“We need to ensure workers, shoppers and visitors are catered for. If we are blocking that, we are damaging the health of this town.

“I voted for the budget because a multi-storey car park was promised for Hexham as part of that and my plea to the county council now would be to get on with it, please.”

The meeting heard that senior officers from the county council had pledged to meet with the traders later this month.

Northumberland county councillor Anne Dale, who chaired the meeting, admitted she didn’t visit Hexham now as much as she used to.

“The issues with car parking have gone on for quite some time now and I think it’s gone in the wrong direction.

“Politics have got slightly involved, but it’s not just about what people in Hexham want. It needs a holistic approach to find out what people from outside the town want too.”