ON-STREET parking campaigners are being told that car parks for PetersfieldÕs workers already exist at Bedford Road and at Love Lane at a cost of only £20 a year.

Former town mayor Chris Jenner, who describes the on-street parking as ÒinconsiderateÓ, joined the debate this week and said that many of the townÕs congested roads have become dangerous.

Workers launched a campaign against a proposal to impose parking restrictions on Weston Road, saying they could not afford the £800-a- year pay-and-display option.

But Mr Jenner says car parks already exist for town workers which cost only £20 a year. And he says roads lined with cars have become dangerous to drive along.

He said: ÒAnyone who believes that the antics of the shop or office workers and commuters are reasonable should open their eyes and go for a walk down some of the streets in question.

ÒI would not recommend driving along them, as some are now dangerous. Anyone who believes that parking on a blind bend is reasonable, for example in Borough Road, is quite obviously stupid, selfish or optically challenged.Ó

Mr Jenner says commuters now have the opportunity to leave their cars in the extended car park which was built to coincide with the townÕs retail park.

ÒThe commuters had the excuse that their railway station car park was too small. Not now. It has just been extended and I have yet to see it full to capacity,Ó he said.

ÒSo in theory we should assume that the roads are now free from this category of parker.Ó

Mr Jenner said he sympathises with shop and office workers and their claims that it costs them £800 a year to park in town-centre car parks.

But he pointed out that, although season tickets are in short supply, a permit for the Festival Hall would cost £150 per year and it was £350 to park at Castle Yard and Swan Street.

Mr Jenner said he would like on-street parkers to realise there are cheap, long-stay car parks in Love Lane or Bedford Road which cost £20 for a year.

He said: ÒItÕs a major travesty of justice that, because of workers and commuters clogging up our streets, many of our residents, including many in the ward which I represent, now have to pay for the dubious privilege of being able to park somewhere near their home.

ÒThe instigators of this situation still park free of charge and bleat and whine because their freebie spaces are about to disappear and they will have find somewhere else to dump their cars all day.Ó

Mr Jenner said he had lost hundreds of pounds through having to cancel work appointments in certain streets where he had not been able to park anywhere close.

He said: ÒWhat we need now is a sensible, comprehensive solution including any residential road at risk. The issuing of residential passes must be free of charge.

ÒI can see no justification for needing to charge to issue a piece of card that can only cost a few pence.

ÒOnly then can we expect to see an end to the gradual displacement of this misery, eventually to almost every road in Petersfield.Ó