SMALL businesses in Penparcau are losing money because potential customers have nowhere to park.

This is the claim of the village’s butcher, Paul Jones, and chip shop owner, Mike Daniels, who are calling on the council to introduce a one-hour parking restriction outside the row of shops along Penparcau Road.

Mr Jones and Mr Daniels say trade is taking a hit because people park their cars outside the shops all day, meaning genuine customers are unable to park safely at the side of the busy road, which forms part of the A487.

“People are just leaving their cars outside all day,” said Mr Daniels, who has operated Chip Box 1 for several years.

“It definitely does make a difference to trade — you can see people driving around the block because there’s nowhere to park.

“If we could restrict parking to one hour, it would make a big difference because, at the moment, we are all losing money.

“We also have big delivery lorries parking on the road outside the shops because they can’t park up. This could be really dangerous for people crossing the road.”

And Mr Jones said it was making it more difficult than it already is for small businesses such as his to compete with the big supermarkets.

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