TRADERS along a busy road have slammed council bosses for introducing parking restrictions which they claim have stopped people coming in to their shops.

Shopkeepers along Whalley New Road, Brownhill, Blackburn, said trade had dropped by 50per cent after a single yellow line was painted on the road last Wednesday.

Roz Connor, owner of Bloomin’ Lovely florists, Whalley New Road, said customers who usually parked outside the shop were being put off.

Roz said: “Brownhill is like a little village and if the shops are affected, then the whole community feels it.

“With Valentine’s Day coming up, which is my busiest time, I was really worried that people were having problems parking outside.”

Bloomin’ Lovely employee Elaine Crook added: “In times of recession things are tough enough and this was the last thing we needed.”

And they said the situation had been made worse by a lack of signs explaining how long motorists could park for. Roz said customers had been told by traffic wardens that they could not park there at all. But Blackburn with Darwen Council said motorists could still park on the road after 9.30am, once the morning rush hour had subsided.

Roz said: “The line was painted last week and there have been no signs put up letting people know how long they could park for.”

This week she made her own road sign, and she and Elaine collected a 120-name petition in just a couple of days which they sent to the council complaining about the restrictions.

Blackburn with Darwen Council said the restrictions meant there was no parking there between 8am and 9.30am, but after this time there was free parking with a limited waiting time of one hour.

Coun Alan Cottam, executive mem-ber for regeneration and environ-ment, said: “The new restriction on Whalley New Road has been intro-duced because motorists have been parking on the side of the road and during the morning peak they have been restricting the use of the two lanes, which were introduced some years ago to increase the capacity onto the roundabout.

“This a key route into the town centre, and to the motorway, and the new restriction is aimed at reducing congestion during the busy morning peak.”