EIGHT penalty notices were issued in Sedgemoor car parks in the first four days after Somerset County Council took over parking enforcement.

The county council is now responsible for enforcing off-street and on-street parking offences, and staff in maroon uniforms have been out in force across the county since the new regime began last week.

From Monday to Thursday last week, while an amnesty for on-street parking breaches was in place, 271 warning notices were issued across Somerset, and 69 penalty charge notices were dished out for on-street offences.

The amnesty ended on Monday.

Tom Ashton, treasurer of the Somerset Tourism Association, and owner of The Warren Guesthouse, in Burnham, said: “I'm aware through the Burnham Chamber of Trade that there's quite a hardcore of people in the town who for years have been parking all day in bays designed for limited parking only.

“That robs people who want to just pop into town for an hour or two of the opportunity of using these parking bays.

“There have also been issues with people parking on double yellow lines at the bottom of Victoria Street, at the junction with College Street.

“That sometimes means lorries cannot turn around that corner and traffic backs up some way.

“People have been getting away with these things for years and I welcome this new regime.”