TRADERS are threatening to quit a village centre in a row over a brewery decision to ban motorists from a popular car park.

Whalley has been thrown into chaos since Whitbread closed the Whalley Arms car park between midnight and 11.30am last week.

Shoppers and visitors to the doctors, dentist and adult education centre have traditionally used the car park, but Whitbread bosses claimed people parking all day were causing inconvenience to pub staff and customers.

The car park has been leased from Whitbread by Ribble Valley Council for the past ten years, but council bosses have said they can't afford to renew the agreement and have accused the brewery of dragging its feet over a solution.

Now traders are calling on Ribble Valley Council and Whitbread bosses to get their heads together to sort the problem out.

Whalley Coun Joyce Holgate, who runs the Abbey Candy sweet shop opposite the car park and is a member of Whalley Chamber of Trade, said she had been inundated with phone calls. "People are furious, particularly those popping into the village to visit the GP surgery. Something will have to be done," she said.

Nicola Molloy, of Coultons Florist, said: "Whalley is now like a ghost town in the mornings. My business has been affected since the car park closed. I pay £285 a month in rates and this village doesn't have a car park. I am 12 months into a three-year lease and will certainly be looking closely at whether to renew it or not," she said.

Optician Robin Standen said: "I sell designer spectacles and my customers travel from miles around. Offering a specialist service is the only way to survive for many traders in villages. There wasn't enough parking before the car park closed, now the situation is critical. Shops are going to be pulling out of Whalley left, right and centre," he said.

Dentist Mark Hutton said the situation would get even worse at the beginning of the school term.

"Many parents use the car park because they can't park outside the primary school. It will be chaos in September," he said. But the Ribble Valley Council's chief engineer Graham Jagger accused Whitbread bosses of dragging their feet in the search for a solution.

"We are very commited to providing a parking area in Whalley and were hopeful that we could strike a deal with the brewery. We proposed a pay-and-display scheme, which we thought was a workable solution, and put it to the brewery, but have so far received no response," he said.

A spokesman for Whitbread said: "The car park is a facility for our customers, so a pay and display system would not be appropriate. We are closing the site from midnight to 11.30am to stop people from parking all day.

"We do appreciate that there is a problem in Whalley and support the villagers in their quest for parking facilities, which is why we are making the pub car park available from 11.30am each day."

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