Salisbury traders raise fears over parking charge plan
Proposals to increase parking charges in parts of Wiltshire have angered traders in Salisbury.
The county council is consulting the public over its "car parking strategy" which is being reviewed.
The authority wants to help cut reliance on cars and raise money to reinvest in transport services which could mean a 50% rise to some charges.
Salisbury City Centre Management is worried shoppers will turn to other retail centres nearby.
Chairman Ian Newman said: "If the strategy's proposals are implemented it would be more than twice as expensive to park in Salisbury as it would be in Chippenham or Trowbridge.
"More importantly it would make parking in Salisbury far more expensive than in Southampton or Bournemouth."
The council said the current car parking strategy was 10-years-old and needed reviewing to reflect changed circumstances.
There was a need, it said, for parking charges and standards to be "broadly consistent across the whole of the county".