PARKING in Devizes is inadequate, badly organised and is driving people to other towns where parking is free and easier to find.

That was the opinion of townspeople quizzed by the Gazette as new parking restrictions came into force this week.

Unrestricted parking spaces in Couch Lane, Rotherstone and Hillworth Road disappeared as the county council marked off new on-street parking spaces and double yellow lines.

Many were puzzled that the double yellow lines were marked in front of the entrance to Devizes Hospital.

But a spokesman for the council said it was common practice to continue yellow lines in front of private entrances and they would only be broken for proper road junctions.

Work on marking out the spaces should have taken place when Devizes' new parking scheme came into force a month ago but parked vehicles prevented the council's contractors carrying out the work until Tuesday.

Resident Fay Wheeler was critical of the new parking scheme. She said: "The town is dying on its feet. The disc parking was a good thing and most people cottoned on. The council only wants people to stay two hours. We should be encouraging them to stay longer and spend more money."

Coal merchant Ken Chivers said: "The disc parking scheme did us very well. It is a shame we have lost something that defined our individuality as a town. Devizes has got some nice shops and we should be encouraging people to stay and visit them."

Practically everyone surveyed in the Gazette's straw poll knew that the town's unique disc parking scheme was a thing of the past and that new zones for free on-street parking for up to two hours had been put in place.

But they were unsure where the new zones were and how long you were allowed to park in them.

In the green zone, which takes in the Market Place and most of the inner town centre, drivers can park free for an hour while in the yellow zone, along New Park Street and the outer town centre, parking is for two hours only .

Most people asked had seen the new signs explaining the zones but nearly everyone complained at the lack of signs to town car parks.

Mike McVeigh, from Rowde, said: "People coming from Stonehenge come into the town, tour around looking for a space then say, sod it, let's go to Bath."

Kennet District Council is planning to bring in new signs later this year and Devizes town councillors expressed concern about its plans on Tuesday.

The signs, due to be installed towards the end of May, would take motorists away from the Market Place, St John's Street and Long Street by routing them along New Park Street and Southbroom Road. But at a meeting of Devizes Town Council's community and civic resources committee on Tuesday councillors were concerned about the impact of extra traffic in New Park Street.

They thought the signs should not be put up before the improvements were carried out at the corner of Wadworth brewery to improve traffic flow. Coun Paula Winchcombe said: "New Park Street is already badly congested and there are high pollution levels there."

Meanwhile, many drivers are continuing to display parking discs.

Kennet's parking officers are leaving letters on their windscreens asking drivers to dispose of their discs in the recycling bins outside the Devizes Visitor Centre in the Market Place and at the Wharf.

So far more than 5,000 discs have been recycled.