VILLAGERS fear Whalley could be thrown into chaos if a brewery slaps a ban on shoppers parking on a pub car park.

Shoppers and visitors to the doctors, dentist, village hall and adult centre all use the 50-space car park at the Whalley Arms pub.

But Whitbread Brewery bosses are fed up with drivers using the land as an all day car park and are planning to close it to the general public and reserve it for pub customers only.

Now traders and other villagers are bombarding Ribble Valley Borough Council with letters and calls pleading for officers to come to some agreement with Whitbread.

Councillor Joyce Holgate, a local shopkeeper and member of Whalley Chamber of Trade said: "If the car park closes it will affect everybody. It is not just the traders who will suffer - people use it if they are going to the doctors, dentist, and village hall.

"And what happens when all the new houses are built at Calderstones? That will mean hundreds of extra cars passing through the village. "We want the council to negotiate with the brewery, but if some agreement can't be reached then some other form of parking area will have to be provided in Whalley. It would be chaos without a car park, the village just can't do without it."

Graham Jagger, Ribble Valley Borough Council's engineering manager, said: "We got a letters from Whitbread saying that the public parking on the car park was affecting their business, and obviously they want to protect that so they proposed to make the car park for patrons only.

"Up until two years ago this car park was a public car park which we leased from Whitbread. But when the lease came up for renewal it was too expensive. We proposed to pay for it by imposing parking charges, but the parish council and Chamber of Trade were against this.

"I have written to Whitbread to see if they will delay the closure until we have had time to discuss things with the traders and parish council. It is a case of watch this space to see what happens next."

It is believed that representatives from the brewery will meet with Whalley parish councillors and members of the Chamber of Trade mext month.

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