MOTORISTS who come to Devizes have every good reason to feel confused.

Just as the new on-street parking scheme with its varied hours and different coloured zones was starting to settle down along came the council and painted different lines.

Many Devizes people were sad to see the end of their disc scheme which allowed 90 minutes free parking in the town centre.

But after a bit of protest they accepted the changes although many did not understand why it was necessary.

New one-hour disc free parking was first introduced into just the Market Place last year.

But most days a majority of cars parked there still displayed the distinctive blue and white discs that made it easy for council wardens to see how long the cars had been in their spaces.

Locals understood and liked the system and while tourists may have been slightly bemused they quickly cottoned on and enjoyed the fact that the market town still retained a lot of free parking that was missing from larger neighbours.

Now everything has changed. In some places you can park for one hour while in others it is two. To add to the confusion some roads which up until this week had stayed outside the zones altogether, were suddenly given bays and waiting limits.

The council claimed this was was only because cars were parked in these spots during the first painting spree and it was impossible to put the markings down.

But whatever the reasons behind the parking changes you can but ask why?

Why was it necessary to scrap the old disc system?

Why did these little bits of cardboard apparently cost more to issue than than the huge process of painting lines, putting up notices and policing a more complicated system?

Why mend something that is not broken?

Only Kennet has the answers.