ANGRY traders claimed they had not been properly consulted over changes to parking in Devizes Market Place when a meeting was held on Tuesday evening.

A number of those who gathered in the Corn Exchange said they had not been asked for their opinions before the town council agreed to take over the Market Place from Wiltshire Council on the understanding that shopper parking would end.

Christopher Poyser, who runs Urban Rustics in Old Swan Yard said: "There has been a lack of transparency. The town council needs to dramatically change the way it consults."

Other shop owners agreed they had been left in the dark until the deal for a transfer of assets was announced last month by Wiltshire Council.

Town clerk Simon Fisher originally defended the way consultation had taken place but later conceded that the council needed to do more to engage with traders and would do so in the future.

A majority of business owners at the meeting said shoppers would rather have paid for parking in the Market Place rather than no parking and pointed to a Facebook poll which

Some called for a new survey to test public opinion and others wanted a full public meeting. But both of these ideas were dismissed by Mr Fisher.

Mr Fisher said: "It is clear that there isn't going to be a consensus here but the council will have to decide what it thinks is best for the town in the long run and that won't necessarily be a popular decision."

But he said that a number of townspeople had contacted the council to say they backed plans for the Market Place to be used for events and stalls along with parking for taxis, disabled people and a drop off point for coaches.

He said: "I don't think many people would come to a public meeting. We are better to talk to people one to one or for them to come to roadshows where plans can be discussed in a less hostile environment." He said the town council had got the best deal it could from Wiltshire Council over the Market Place and had pushed to keep some free parking but this was dismissed by Wiltshire.

He said the unitary authority wanted to be able to raise £95,000 from Market Place parking. This either had to come from paid-for parking of 70p for an hour or from drivers having to go into other paid-for car parks.

Town councillor Kelvin Nash said some of the spaces lost in the Market Place would be regained by using on-road taxi ranks, disabled parking spaces and those designated for coach drop-offs.

He also said that current free one hour on-road parking would be changed to half-hour and two hour parking to one. He said: "Those who want to park for two hours can go to the car parks where they probably should be anyway."

Mr Fisher said that during negotiations with Wiltshire Council the town council had constantly pressed for the Market Place to be transferred with its current use to allow the Devizes community to decide its future use but this was not allowed.