AN £8,000 traffic and transport study of Whalley is to be carried out before it is decided whether to turn a village green into a car park.

Whalley was thrown into chaos when brewer Whitbread banned motorists from its car park at the Whalley Arms last month.

Shoppers and visitors to the doctors, dentist's and adult education centre used the car park but brewery bosses claimed people were parking all day and causing inconvenience to pub staff and customers. They were fed-up with motorists using the site as an all-day car park and wanted to reserve it for pub customers.

The brewery has introduced a pay-and-display scheme to help solve the problem but is still calling on the parish and borough councils to come up with a municipal site.

And 50 residents and traders who turned up at a recent meeting of Whalley Parish Council heard that a garden area and bus terminus in the centre of the village might be turned into a car park. Now Ribble Valley Council is to fund a feasibility study into the use of the site and appoint consultants to carry out the transport study.

The council's chief engineer Graham Jagger told a meeting it was not clear whether Whalley even had a car-parking problem.

"Depending on who you listen to depends on what the perceived problem is and the consequential solution. Is there a real and demonstrable need for more off-street or long-stay parking in the village? These questions need to be considered and examined carefully.

"It would be advisable to commission a parking survey, which might also include a traffic and transport study. Only then can a decision be properly and confidently taken on what if anything should be done in Whalley," he told the council's planning committee. He said any scheme would have to reflect the wishes and needs of the whole village.

Councillors gave the study the go-ahead.

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