A NEW parking system continues to cause problems in Princes Risborough, prompting worries from councillors that it will scare shoppers away.

At the monthly town council meeting on Tuesday, Bill Bendyshe-Brown said he had received a lot of complaints about the new ANPR system due to the lack of signs and poor recognition of number plates.

Cameras pick up cars' registration numbers when they enter the car park and then drivers pay when they leave by entering their registration.

The system has been introduced in Wycombe District Council car parks.

But it is not just Risborough, which has been having issues with the new system but also Marlow and Bourne End.

Residents had complained that a camera at the Bourne End car park was not working after being damaged by a vehicle and that queues had been causing frustration.

Cllr Bendyshe-Brown said: "People who are queuing at parking metres at the moment are the elderly. They are finding it extremely difficult to put the number plates in."

He said new signs are being put up to make it clear people pay when they leave, not on arrival.

There have also been teething problems with the camera at Horns Lane car park as registration plates have not always recognised.

Cllr Gary Hall said: "Since M&S moved in seven years ago it has really invigorated that end of the town. Going in there over the Kop Hill Climb weekend, there are usually people queuing at every single till, but it was empty.

"Quite evidently people are staying away because of that car park. We need to do something quite drastic."

Cllr Will Streule added: "I have had people saying to me they don't use the car parks as they don't trust them any more."

Spokesman for WDC, Catherine Spalton, said in September there were 20,610 payments taken at the town's two council car parks and the council has only had a handful of official complaints.

She said: "We already have large noticeboards in the Princes Risborough car parks. Experience has always shown that if there too much information, motorists don’t tend to read it.

"We also receive complaints if there are too many signs in the car park, which is why we have large signs and consolidate as much information onto one as possible. We are about to review our signage again now that installations are settling in."

In Bourne End she said from the council's perspective, it was one of the easier locations to roll out the ANPR system and a camera which had been damaged by a large vehicle has been replaced.

She added: "Local people in the area seem to have got to grips with the new system very quickly and our officers have had positive feedback when they’ve been out in the car parks."