TRADERS in Moreton are stepping up their efforts to have a say over future parking arrangements in the town.

Their immediate target is the town council scheme to paint double yellow lines outside several High Street shops and Moreton Business Association has now called an open meeting to discuss the plans.

The meeting takes place at 6.30pm today (Thursday) at the White Hart Royal Hotel and business association chairman Rob Dewbery said: "At the moment there are a lot of people hopping up and down and saying that we should do something."

He said that the meeting had been called to gauge opinion over the yellow lines, which the town council would like to have painted on the east side of the service road from the horse trough to the last tree garden.

The plans have angered many traders who say it would mean the loss of yet more valuable car parking spaces in the town centre.

Mr Dewbery said: "The yellow lines have concentrated everybody' minds, but we will discuss parking in general."

The town's parking problems have come to the fore since Thames Trains introduced parking fees at the railway station car park. Some drivers leave their cars elsewhere in the town, often for days at a time, to avoid the charges, taking up spaces that could be used by shoppers. Cotswold District Council is also set to introduce charges at its Market Way car park, putting added pressure on the free spaces in the High Street.

Trader Stephen Farnsworth said: "The whole of Moreton needs looking at. We definitely need a combined strategy on parking that covers all points. It has to be managed somehow."

Traders say they want to work with the town to come up with a parking system which ensures that there are spaces for shoppers to use.