A CAMPAIGNER has called parking charges in the South Hams 'a national disgrace' and has helped form a pressure group in a bid to see them cut.

Rodney Willett from South Brent is asking more people to join South Hams Motorists after it was set up last month.

The group believes it is wrong that the council uses car parks to raise revenue for general purposes.

'Such charges have become a tax – and a tax that bears more heavily on the poorer members of our communities,' the group's website says.

'High parking costs deter visitors from spending more time in the South Hams generally and in the towns of the South Hams in particular.'

It is also calling for control of parking restrictions to be determined by town and parish councils as it says conditions are different in different areas.

Mr Willett said he hoped the group would give people a voice in parking charges and allow the subject to be properly debated.

He said: 'Many people query the sanity of the parking policy being implemented and the way it is being implemented.

'Things started with my experience at Torcross but the problems are fairly widespread throughout the district.

'I arrived at Tocross car park just after 5.30pm one evening in June.

'I duly put my £1 coin into the machine which advertises one hour of parking for that amount.

'The ticket I received showed a leave-by time of 18.00 hours which was twenty-eight minutes after arrival.

'Thus, the South Hams Council was advertising one thing and selling another.'

Mr Willett added that on top of the confusion, the parking charges in the area had in fact discouraged tourists from coming back, saying: 'The Times online had an article headlined "£2bn profit for councils as parking charges soar"...and underneath among the comments was this:

"Some of the parking charges are iniquitous and grossly unfair and even amount to theft. On holiday recently and wanting to stop a short while in Totnes, Devon, the charge in one car park stated I had to pay something like £3 which was the charge for the overnight fee from 6pm.

There was no flexibility to pay less and the notices in the car park threatened a huge fine for those who didn't pay!"

'Here, in the area controlled by the South Hams Council, a great deal of our income comes from two sources: the retired and the tourist.

'This comment confirms that the way we handle car parking charges can have a marked effect on the district's income.

'The group was set up about three weeks ago and the object is to ensure that this subject is properly aired, properly debated and that decisions are taken by the people of the various areas in a truly democratic manner.'

A spokesman for South Hams Council said: 'We welcome feedback regarding our services and car parking is one of the areas where communities have had the opportunity to have their say.

'We have worked with towns such as Modbury to create a car parking system that suits local needs and are in the process of talking with Kingsbridge.

'We would welcome other communities getting in touch with their ideas.

'We are always reviewing our parking policies and are currently looking at overnight parking charges.

'Our parking charges compare favourably with those of neighbouring councils and have been frozen for the last three years. Due to budget constraints we cannot do away with parking charges altogether however there is scope to makes changes that benefit local communities.'

Anyone wishing to find out more about South Hams Motorists can email [email protected]">[email protected] or visit southhamsame.com.