Kennet District Council has been condemned for plans to extend its free car park for staff because they have difficulty finding public transport.

The council argues that the number of spaces at its headquarters at Browfort in Bath Road, Devizes, is inadequate and is planning to build an extra 12 spaces at a cost of between £3,000 to £5,000.

Last year Kennet received just over £178,000 in income from car parking charges in its public car parks.

The car park at Browfort currently has 182 free spaces for staff and councillors and 17 spaces for visitors.

Margaret Taylor, a Kennet councillor in Devizes, said: "Kennet are overcharging the motorist, especially in Devizes, with its parking charges and that is borne out in the huge profits they are making.

"Last week Kennet announced the redundancies of three very valuable officers and now they are talking about extending their own car park."

A total of 241 staff work for Kennet at Browfort and around 80 Wiltshire County Council staff are based in the Social Services offices and register office also based on the campus. Kennet also has 43 councillors.

A statement from Kennet said: "The 12 extra spaces are for staff parking generally. While parking is normally fairly adequate it is completely inadequate on days on which there are meetings at the council offices."

A spokeswoman said Kennet did have a car sharing scheme for staff.

The statement added: "We do encourage staff to use other forms of transport and as the number of spaces is much less than the numbers who work on the Browfort campus we clearly have some success in this regard, but the reality is that for many staff public transport is not available at suitable times and would be impractical for the many staff who have to visit sites all over Kennet as part of their daily work, such as planning officers and environmental health officers."

The spokesman said the extra spaces would not be created until a decision had been made by the Government on the submission of a unitary council for Wiltshire.

Tony Sedgwick, a traffic expert who lives in Devizes and advises The Trust for Devizes, said based on Kennet's current policy for parking standards Browfort should have 166 car parking spaces.

Devizes Town Council's planning committee agreed on Tuesday night to object to the 12 extra spaces because of concerns that it would lead to increased congestion in Bath Road.