Traders fear soaring parking charges and strict enforcement are turning their high street into a no-go zone.

Last year Worthing Borough Council took over control of on-street parking enforcement in the town.

Now parking attendants from NCP Services are patrolling the streets looking for parking misdemeanours rather than Sussex Police traffic wardens.

Some traders in the town centre fear the new regime is having a detrimental effect on the footfall at the western end of the high street where parking is scarce.

Derek Berman, who runs Deja Shoes, at the west end of Montague Street pedestrian precinct, spoke out following a spate of shop closures.

The area had seen a series of independent businesses shut over the past year, and five shops in a row next to his business are available to let.

Mr Berman criticised the cost of parking and a recent decision to grant a Wednesday market in Montague Street a new five-year licence.

He said: "We have a ladies shoe shop at the west end of Montague Street as well as two other shops in Brighton and Hove.

"The two shops in Brighton and Hove are very successful, but the shop in Montague Street is virtually at a standstill and if the situation doesn't change it could bring our whole business down.

"There are five empty shops adjacent to ours and more closing. This is mostly due to the parking regime and the fact that the Buckingham Road multi-storey car park, which serves Montague Street, has increased its charges threefold.

"It is now more expensive to park there than in Churchill Square in Brighton.

"There have been two street lights outside our shop not working for more than three months.

"During the winter evenings, with five empty shops next to us and no street lighting, the area resembles a ghetto.

"Worthing Council is more interested in parking revenue and the once-a-week market rents than keeping its retail traders and its high street open."

Dave Edwards, from the Rose and Crown pub, agreed: "It's affecting the area because the new wardens are going over the top.

"I have taxi drivers drinking in my pub and they say they have been given tickets while they are walking elderly people to their doors.

"It's ridiculous."

Councillor Ann Barlow, the deputy leader of the council and whose portfolio includes economic development, said: "I wouldn't say ghetto. I don't share that view."

She said the closure of small, independent businesses was a trend reflected nationally and was not unique to Worthing.

But Coun Barlow acknowledged that parking was cheaper in rival towns such as Horsham.

The council has passed its concerns on to NCP, which runs the town's multi-storey car parks, and hoped the firm would start offering cheaper rates at certain times to attract shoppers.

There are also plans to brighten up Montague Street - an aim helped by a revamp, starting this month, of Marks and Spencer's store in the precinct.

Coun Barlow said she believed that once people saw the investment Marks and Spencer was making, it would encourage others to set up shops in the town.

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