CALLS have been made to Monmouthshire County Council to look at two separate schemes to solve the town's car parking problem.

At a public meeting on Monday that was requested by the town's traders and organised by Monmouth Town Council, officials from the local authority heard the concerns of two sections of Monmouth society.

Since the construction work began on the new bridge, the amount of car parking available in the town has been halved to just over 300 spaces.

A local businessman said: "We need car parks for traders and their employees and at the same time the town needs parking spaces for visitors."

By 9am, most of the car parking spaces have been filled.

Cllr Sarah James said: "People are no longer moving their cars during the day as they fear that they will not be able to find another space on their return."

Local trader and resident Barbara Jones said: "It's not uncommon for me to drive around the town for more than half an hour looking for a parking spot."

Monmouthshire County Council are to carry out a full audit on all parking in Monmouth and will include street parking and the use of their own car parks.

Terry Veneer, the licensee of the Punch House, said that he was always looking for all-day parking for some of his residents and that this was increasingly becoming a problem.

Santiago Daminguez of Made In Spain said: "We need a solution now to help all the people who need to be here all day, especially if the council are to introduce a two-hour limit on the Glendower car park.

Solutions to solve the problem are being investigated by the council that include park and ride schemes for car parks out of town and highlighting parts of Monmouth that could be utilised for car parking.

David Harris the council's head of highways said: "The temporary car park behind Bishop's Garage will get underway shortly following the delay caused by the discovery of slowworms on the site.

"This car park will be free and I expect that it will be used by the people who work in the town and this in turn will free up spaces in the other car parks.

"Some local people do not need to drive into town, especially if they live within a mile of the town centre.

"But once the new bridge has been used for a period of six months, the council will then review its traffic management schemes."