Devizes Town Council should take over the town's car parks and run them as a service to the community, it was suggested at the Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting last Thursday.

Parking in the town centre has become such a bone of contention that the chamber invited representatives of the district and county councils to its meeting in the Cheese Hall to explain their policy and describe how they intend to counter growing traffic pressures.

David Waring, Wiltshire County Council's senior transport planning officer, responsible for the Devizes Community Area Transport Plan, said the town was fortunate to have its own transport plan whose success will depend on the level of funding it gets from the Government.

The council should find out before Christmas how much it is going to get to encourage the use of public transport, cycling and walking in preference to the car in the area. Mr Waring warned that all the aspects of the plan, including the possible decrease in parking spaces, must be implemented as a condition of receiving the money.

Mike Rant, of consultants Oscar Faber, which helped draw up the plan, said that longer stay commuter parking should be discouraged to persuade workers to find alternative forms of transport, but that his company was still working through elements of the report.

Michael Williams, chairman of the Wessex Association of Chambers of Commerce, said: "To reduce the number of parking spaces would have a very detrimental effect on the viability of our town centres. Shops are not being filled by local independent traders.

"Increases in car park charges leads to more on-street parking and less money going into the local economy. Most long-term parking are people commuting to work and they might decide to find work elsewhere.

"I recognise the pressures on the district council to make their car parks economic but town and parish councils are not rate-capped. Why not give the car parks to them and use the money released to put more into public transport?"

Mark Boden, chief executive of Kennet District Council, replied: "Nobody locally is proposing penal parking charges at the moment or removing a single space to discourage car use yet.

"The charging regime is not used as a penalty for using your car but to cover costs."

After the meeting he said: "We would be quite happy to consider any approach the town council might make on the subject of car parks. The other possibility is for the town council to buy a reduction in parking charges and pass it on to users. This has been tried elsewhere in the county."

But town clerk Sarah Todhunter counselled caution on the suggestion, saying the issue was complicated.

She said: "If you were consciously running car parks at a loss you would have to have a very good reason for doing it.

"Is it for the residents of the town who pick up the tab or is it for retailers who hope to attract more business? We could be seen as subsidising incomers and we wouldn't want to dive in and run it at a loss."