IRATE traders in Minehead say they are loosing around £200,000 a week because frustrated visitors don't know where to park in the town.

And they have called for urgent action to provide more signposts directing visitors to the town's car parks.

Arthur Pillips, chairman of Direct, which is campaigning against the sell-off of car parks in the town, said: "We've been promised new signs for months, and now Minehead has become one huge car park.

"We have no traffic wardens, so people park where they want.

"What few car park direction signs exist for visitors coming up The Avenue from the sea front are a hotch-potch of white, blue and green.

"Visitors coming into the town along Friday Street arrive in Wellington Square where there are no signs at all.

"There are three car parks off The Avenue, and none of them are signed for visitors driving towards the seafront."

Graham Sizer, chairman of Minehead Chamber of Trade, said: "Our town is often gridlocked with cars parked on the street, while the car parks are half empty."

"I calculate £200,000 of spend is being lost to local shops every week during the holiday period because visitors can't find anywhere to park."

Linda Hatch, who runs the Sunfield Hotel in Summerland Avenue, said: "People like to come and park, walk through the town, see the shops, then perhaps stay for the night.

"But if they drive into the town and find they can't park, they drive out again to find somewhere else to spend the day, and we are losing money.

"Something needs to be done. The problem can only get worse during the holidays."

Cllr Christine Lawrence, who represents the town on both county and district councils, said: "I am assured that the signs will be delivered by the end of this week, and that they will be installed on Monday or Tuesday.

Apologising for the delay, she said there had been a problem with deliveries of the signs.