SIGNS are being installed around Salisbury to help drivers find parking spaces quickly and easily.

High-tech variable message signs are being installed to show real-time information about the availability of spaces, and improvements to direction signing will also be made.

Variable message signs on the main approaches to the city will show information about spaces in Culver Street, Central and Old George Mall car parks. Further signs will then guide drivers around the ring road to the car parks.

Motorists will be directed to where there is spare capacity, saving them the frustrating search for a space, and stopping visitors from getting lost and causing traffic congestion in the city centre.

Work has already started on the installation of VMS and is due to be completed by the end of May.

Feedback from drivers also suggests that the current signing to the main car parks in Salisbury is confusing, particularly for visitors.

A review of direction signs was carried out by the Salisbury joint transportation team, a partnership between Wiltshire county council and Salisbury district council.

A contract has been let to Signway Supplies Ltd to replace 142 signs in and around the city. Work on this is due to take place for ten weeks from early next month.

The signs will encourage visitors to use the main car parks. Once parked, tourist information points and on-street pedestrian signs will guide them on foot to their destinations.

Paula Arnold, principal traffic engineer for Salisbury joint transportation team, said: "The use of VMS will make a significant contribution to reducing city centre traffic, while providing quicker and more convenient access to city centre car parks.

"The works that are planned should help to make Salisbury a more user-friendly city that is easily navigable, and to reduce the amount of traffic circulating in the city centre."