PARISH councillors are to discuss whether to take over the running of a car park in a bid to end the suffering of residents who say their streets are congested with holidaymakers' cars.

PARISH councillors are to discuss whether to take over the running of a car park in a bid to end the suffering of residents who say their streets are congested with holidaymakers' cars.

Villagers in Beach Road and Manor Road in Caister have been fighting to get the pay and display machines removed from the nearby car park to ease the parking hassles. They say visitors to the area are parking outside their homes to avoid paying fees to park in the car park.

More than 260 residents signed a petition supporting the move, which was presented to borough councillor Graham Plant, the cabinet member for regeneration and tourism.

Cllr Plant has asked to meet Caister parish councillors about them taking on long-term responsibility for Beach Road car park, with the aim they would cover the cost of providing free parking to entice tourists back to the car park.

However, this could mean an increase in the parish's council tax precept unless the money could be found from the existing budget.

Mr Plant has proposed scrapping car parking charges for next summer as a trial run to see what effect the free car park would have on the parking situation. However, he warned if it did not solve the problem then alternative solutions would have to be found, such as double yellow lines along residential roads or no waiting signs.

Mr Plant told the Mercury in October the �8,950 gleaned from the car park last summer showed it was being used by tourists and it was likely to be fellow residents who were cluttering village streets with their cars.

Parish council chairman Tony Overill stressed the decision on the car park was one for the whole council to make, but he personally had doubts over whether it should take over the car park as it needed considerable investment to bring it up to scratch.

He said: “It is going to cost the residents of Caister an awful lot of money on their rates. At present, the car park is in an absolutely terrible state. There are pot holes everywhere. It has been patched up and patched up - it has more patches than Joseph's Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

The car park issue will be discussed at Monday's parish council meeting.