ALRESFORD could get its own traffic warden as part of plans to build a new car park at Perins School.

The idea is part of a project to provide more parking in the town and enforce existing regulations.

Many people in Alresford say business owners and their employees park on West Street and Broad Street all day, thereby denying shoppers any space.

City council traffic wardens visit Alresford, but because the town offers drivers up to two hours free parking, motorists often have plenty of time to move their vehicles.

But Cllr Roy Gentry, New Alresford Town Council's chairman, said they would not be getting a warden until more parking was secured in the town.

A group comprising representatives from Hampshire County Council, Winchester City Council, the town council and Perins, met last month to discuss the next stage of the project to build the car park at the school.

The proposals for the car park - which is expected to provide the town with between 60 and 90 more spaces - are now set to go to public consultation.

It is unclear, at this stage, what form this consultation will take.

Cllr Gentry said: "It does not matter how much parking we provide, people will still park in the town centre unless we enforce the existing regulations.

"It wouldn't be until the car park is built, but I am quite serious about it (employing a traffic warden).

"I think it's one of the ways forward in the sense of it being a community warden. "I would call them community wardens because they would get involved in other things.

"I see that they would be employed on a part-time basis by the town council, but their hours would not be regular, so nobody knows when they're going to turn up.

"But it will be a damn sight more frequent than Winchester wardens!"

Cllr Gentry added that once the public consultation was complete the council would then have to submit a planning application to the city council, and then seek permission from central government.

He said the town council is targeting the summer of 2008 to begin constructing the car park.

Meanwhile, Simon Evans, a newly-elected town councillor and owner of The Naked Grape, is pushing for an agreement between businesses to agree to park their cars elsewhere, so spaces are freed up in the town.

Cllr Evans said: "It needs an agreement, then more people come to the town and we make more money. "There's an option - possibly the last one - to solve this once and for all."