THE free car park outside the Three Horseshoes Walk shopping centre in Warminster has been limited to three hours maximum stay, dividing opinion amongst businesses and shoppers in the town.

The 128-space car park outside Iceland was previously unrestricted, but on June 17 shopping centre owners New River Retail changed the policy. in a bid to get more people shopping in the town. Centre manager Peter Ruscoe said: “The car park was being used by town centre workers and commuters travelling to Bath and wider afield from early morning and this restricted or even prohibited its use by shoppers.”

The majority of shoppers have welcomed the change, which they feel will encourage them to shop more at The Three Horseshoes Walk, which was bought by NewRiver Retail for £9 million last year. Hilda Merritt, of Boreham Road, said: “I suppose I come to the shops about three times a week for one thing or another and it’s now a welcome relief to be able to find a parking space."

“They used to always be taken up and this is a much better and fairer system than having to pay in the other (council operated) car park.”

Mum Laura O’Neill, who lives in Hindon but is a regular visitor into Warminster, where her children go to school, said: “Some cars park here all day every day – usually in the same place – and this new idea is brilliant.”

But staff who work at shops in the centre and around the town are struggling to find parking, with many facing buying parking permits.

Lynne Wrenn, an employee at M&Co, said: “From an employee point of view it’s not ideal. Sometimes it does get chock-a-block and it is a problem for some of us to park.”

An employee at Lindsay’s Linen who wished to remain anonymous said: “I used to work at another shop in town and I used to leave my car in the car park from 9am-5pm.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea as I don’t see how that’s going to attract more shoppers.”

Taking to social media, Nikki Dancey posted: “Agreed that choosing where you work is a life choice, but to suddenly have to pay to park to go to the job you have been in for years is a financial burden that will impact on the household budget.”