A “horrendous” parking issue within Welshpool could see the return of bollards to address the problem of too many cars in too small a space.

Councillors seemed blocked in over how to resolve an issue with parking by the town hall that has reportedly seen as many as 14 cars crammed into an area only suitable for six parking spaces.

The issue was brought up at a meeting on September 18 by the council’s operations manager, Paul McGrath, who told the council that the issue “needs sorting ASAP”, with fire escapes and walkways frequently being blocked by cars.

He said: “The parking situation at the back of town hall is horrendous. There are six spaces being used by as many as 14 cars.

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"We’ve had traders turning round and going home because they can’t park, arguments between local businesses and all sorts of other incidents over the situation there.”

Cllr Phil Pritchard said: “There used to be bollards down there, as far as I’m concerned they should go back.

"They’re still available, so I propose they go back up and be controlled by the operations manager and his staff. People will get out the habit of parking there and stop going there.

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“I’d like to add that if the Powys County Council hadn’t put up such high parking fees on other car parks we wouldn’t have this problem.”

Cllr Richard Church responded by saying: “I think we’re in danger of making the problems worse, with the demand there is for paring and the lack of spaces. I agree that our operations manager should have some discretion in how he controls the use of that area, but to put up bollards and shut the area could create even more aggravation.”

Whether the council should enforce a specific policy over the area or let staff defer to what they think is the best approach on each day divided the council, with some fearing this would put those enforcing the parking rules in a “firing line”.

Cllr David France added: “I feel like some sort of policy would be useful to say what circumstances under which people are allowed to park there to save our operations manager getting hassle over who can use the car park and when.”

The committee agreed to defer the issue to a vote from the full council in a few weeks’ time.