A councillor in Exeter has suggested more residents-only parking zones should be implemented across the city.

Richard Westlake said money raised through on-street parking tariffs should be used to cover the cost of setting up more permit-based areas in the Devon city, reports the Express and Echo.

Budget constraints have already forced the county council to delay the introduction of a residents-only zone in Burnthouse Lane, Crossparks and Whipton Lane. Work on this will now not take place until between 2015 and 2017.

There are already several areas of Exeter that are covered by permits and possible extensions have been mooted.

Councillor Westlake said a scheme for various areas was put forward several years ago but has never been acted on. He said the details are there so the only thing that is required is the effort of council officers who would need to go through them and hold consultations before introducing new zones.

"The last I heard there was a surplus of £700,000 in the on-street parking account, which is used across the whole of Devon, even in areas which voted against having on-street parking," he stated.

"Most of this money comes from Exeter and there is a crying need for residents-only parking in some areas, according to the many phone calls I am receiving about this."

Tom Porter, chairman of the Mount Pleasant Independent Traders' Association, also wants to see action taken in order to combat commuter parking. He said parking should be designed to help local people and those who want to access local businesses.

Should one of his proposed rules be implemented - which would see no car able to return to an area within four hours of parking there - it is likely the council would need to employ people in parking jobs to police this.

A spokesman for the county council said it is not possible for progress to be made on more than one residents-only scheme at a time.

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