Changes to parking at County Hall in Trowbridge have been welcomed by library user John Fairbrother who repeatedly complained to Wiltshire Council about the lack of available spaces for visitors.

The council has announced that it is bringing in a new electronic permit system, which will allow people to park in the visitor bays for up to two hours after registering their vehicle in reception using the designated screens.

Parking for both visitors and staff will be free, but the new regulations are designed to ensure it is simpler for visitors to use the facilities and meet people at the council offices.

Regular library user Mr Fairbrother, of Alderton Way, Trowbridge, has previously complained to the council about staff using the 66 spaces intended for visitors and said the issue has been going on since the library opened at County Hall in 2012.

Mr Fairbrother said: “It’s got to be an improvement on the current system, as there isn’t one. They didn’t think about parking when they refurbished County Hall and started moving more services there.

“It disgusted me that they didn’t consider parking at all, so this system has got to be better and will hopefully make it a bit easier for visitors, especially users of the library, to get a space.

“I’ve been told that if you want to stay in the library for longer than two hours then you can renew it as well, which is good. Also the electronic system will know if staff are parking in visitor spaces.”

Free parking will still be available to all visitors and staff, but it will now be monitored through the new system. Anyone who does not have a permit could receive a penalty charge notice.

John Thomson, cabinet member for highways, said: “County Hall is a community space and we want to encourage more people to drop in, however we know that a barrier to this is the lack of available visitor parking spaces.

“The situation for visitors and staff has been difficult since more services and staff have been based at County Hall, which has allowed us to make large property savings. This new system will improve things greatly.”

The electronic parking permit system will be enforced Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and will come into force from April 6.