A COUNCIL will introduce charges and fines after a spate of bad parking.

Coggeshall Parish Council will apply to Braintree District Council next year to charge drivers parking in the short stay Stoneham Street Car Park in Coggeshall.

The move comes after councillors at Coggeshall Parish Council, who own the car park, were shocked at the parking in recent weeks.

Council chairman Nick Unsworth said he has seen the levels of bad parking for himself.

Mr Unsworth said: "Drivers have been parking over disabled bays, and other drivers have taken up more than two spaces each.

"Drivers have parked their cars and have left them in the car park for weeks.

"This is not right and such drivers would be given tickets in a normal car park.

"This may be because the car park is free and they know nothing can be done."

The council must apply to the district council for an off street parking order, which gives the parish council provisional powers.

Councillors at Coggeshall Parish Council plan to join the North Essex Parking Partnership, an agency which would manage the car park for the council.

The parish council would still have the power to change fees and open and close the car park.

Nick said he understands the concerns of residents who could be worried about the introduction of a fee.

He said: "What we plan to introduce is a system which works for the good of the village.

"We want tourists to park in this car park and shop around at businesses in the community, and we don't want a system which discourages this.

"We'd like our first two hours to be free, then a 50p charge to park between two and four hours.

"This is fair and does not put off visitors to Coggeshall.

"If drivers parked their cars for less than two hours each, another five potential drivers could park their cars and shop over a 12 hour day.

"With these proposals, the parish council can have control over the car park and ticket enforcements."

Coggeshall Parish Council holds traffic management committee meetings, where councillors meet approximately six times a year to discuss the car park and traffic matters.

The council is set to apply to Braintree District Council in March next year to start the legal process.