MOTORISTS will have to pay to park in Devizes Market Place for the first time in the town's history. Pay and display ticket machines will now go up in the historic square despite years of opposition by town councillors, traders and residents.

Kennet District Council voted on Tuesday to impose a charge of 60p an hour without consulting the town council.

The Devizes Town Centre Joint Working Party, comprising town, district and county councillors as well as councillors of neighbouring parishes, successfully fought off a previous scheme to introduce pay-and-display parking in the Market Place in 1999 because of the intrusion of ticket machines and signs.

The district council, which is trying to find cuts in expenditure as it struggles with yet another low support grant from central government, said it hoped to raise as much as £87,000 a year.

But businesses have reacted angrily to the pay and display scheme saying it could be a devastating blow to trade.

Andrew Rugg, proprietor of Terry's the Chemists in the Little Brittox, said he is furious about the decision.

"They must be absolutely mad. Most of our business is people coming in to have prescriptions filled and if they have to pay to park, they are going to go to Safeway or somewhere else," he said.

"It is not just our business that will suffer. People will not pay to park in Station Road because it is so unpleasant down there. They will just go to another town."

Jo Batchelor, chairman of Devizes Chamber of Commerce, said to charge 60p an hour was grossly unfair.

"We are really disappointed to see parking charges introduced to the Market Place.

It is the sort of place people just want to pop in to go to the bank or shops."

Alex Duffey, a member of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "This is not what the Market Place is supposed to be used for.

"What with this, houses built on Station Road car park and building on the North Gate site, people will stop coming to Devizes altogether."

Mayor Margaret Taylor said at Tuesday's community development executive committee meeting: "I cannot speak on behalf of the town council because the town council has not been consulted."

She said she was also concerned that once the Market Place became a source of revenue, the council would require payment for its use for markets, carnivals and parades. "People will have to pay for the use of their own Market Place."

Kennet councillor Nigel Carter said: "There is still a fairly fragile retail offer in the town and it would be dangerous to upset the balance."

Coun Peter Evans suggested putting the proposals on hold until Gillespies, the town planning consultants employed to look at the regeneration of the town, produced its promised report.

But Brad Fleet, Kennet's director of community services, said the report would not be relevant to the Market Place.

Mark Smith, Kennet's environment and amenity manager, said charging for parking in the Market Place would encourage a quicker turnover and more use of Station Road car park, where the charge is being reduced from 40p to 30p an hour with an all-day charge of £1.50, reduced from £2.

Frank Marshall, Kennet's director of resources, said he could not give a firm pledge that community groups would not be charged for using the Market Place in the future for different events.