THE town of Marlborough is being held back by the lack of parking spaces said the deputy mayor Cllr Mervyn Hall at the Area Board Meeting last week.

He said: "We need another 100 plus parking spaces in the town.

"It keeps coming up as a major issue and it holds back the town for visitors and for business."

In 2017 Marlborough Town Council carried out a car park study to ascertain the need for parking in the town as part of their work on a neighbourhood plan.

A public meeting was held in October to give residents the chance to hear the findings.

They found that at peak time the maximum utilisation of the parking available was reached meaning anyone arriving at that time would not find a space other than to drive round and round until someone left.

"We don't have much space as a town council," he said, "there's a piece of land for instance owned by Wiltshire Council near the old gas works that is up for auction with sealed bids."

He didn't expect the town council's bid to succeed as there were other organisations after the land for development with more money.

"We have to balance three sets of people seeking parking," he said. "Residents who often don't have on street parking, visitors who help the town financially as they spend. And workers. A lot of people work in town and drive in and need somewhere to park."

The is a free car park up by the rugby club he said that is available to workers in the week he said. If they could park there and walk in that was one possibility.

"Wiltshire County don't seem keen on investing in new parking provision," he said, "but it is affecting business and the residents."

The High Street is one of the favourite places for people to park due to its width and length offering but it also causes congestion as through traffic is often held back while those looking for an empty space.